Click to go to the Eventbrite page for this weekend’s listening party, with live appearances from members of the Experiment.

On the same stage where Stevie Wonder recently turned up for a surprise cameo at his own tribute show, this weekend we’re going to be celebrating one of his most powerful disciples. But this time we’re spoiling the surprise right up front: Robert Glasper will be there in the flesh.

The event, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, is a listening party where you’ll get to hear Glasper’s just-released Black Radio 2 on Liv Nightclub‘s solar plexus-shaking sound system. (For you jazz die-hards, Liv is just upstairs from Bohemian Caverns.) There will also be a live Q-and-A with Glasper and his excellent band, the Experiment, plus a DJ set from the group’s saxophonist, Casey Benjamin, a.k.a. DJ StutzMcgee.

 
If you’ve been spending some time beneath a boulder, namely one that can insulate you from the pulse of a thunderous groove and the power of a soul-stirring piano solo, then maybe you don’t know about Glasper. He’s the 35-year-old jazz piano master who’s taken aim at people’s perceptions of popular (and less popular) music. He challenges the idea that jazz is some isolated, elite realm where other types of music are shunned. On 2012’s Grammy-winning Black Radio, he teamed up with the likes of Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Erykah Badu to present a kinda old-school, kinda futurist portrait of what an aggregated Black American music might look like. It washes together the instrumental sojourn of live jazz, the deep groove of neo-soul, the rapture of gospel, and the vocal twists of contemporary hip-hop and R&B.

 
Now the Robert Glasper Experiment has arrived with Black Radio 2, an album built on the same formula and including collaborations with Snoop Dogg (rapping, not reggae-ing), Jill Scott, and Emeli Sandé. And yup, it features a majestic Stevie cover.

CapitalBop is thrilled to partner with HedRush in presenting this Saturday-evening listening party. Come out and spend some time listening to the new album, plus DJ sets by Benjamin and DJ Munch. And make sure you’re there for the Q&A. Glasper happens to be a great interview.

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