Robert Glasper strikes me as a second rate imitation of Brad Mehldau, whom I love. An interesting choice of covers: Joni Mitchell's "Barrandgrill" is nice but the record just doesn't grab me. The fact that I don't like his drummer could be part of it too. A lot of this just sounds like smooth jazz to me. For current jazz pianists (as in the last 20 years!) I prefer Mehldau, Ethan Iverson (of the Bad Plus), and Jason Moran. These 3 sound like they all have their own original style whereas Glasper still seems to be working on trying to figure out what his is; maybe eventually he will.
Comment
Add a CommentRobert Glasper strikes me as a second rate imitation of Brad Mehldau, whom I love. An interesting choice of covers: Joni Mitchell's "Barrandgrill" is nice but the record just doesn't grab me. The fact that I don't like his drummer could be part of it too. A lot of this just sounds like smooth jazz to me. For current jazz pianists (as in the last 20 years!) I prefer Mehldau, Ethan Iverson (of the Bad Plus), and Jason Moran. These 3 sound like they all have their own original style whereas Glasper still seems to be working on trying to figure out what his is; maybe eventually he will.