Have I Been Glasperized?!?!

Writer’s Block is what I’m suffering right now. At 4:39AM on a Tuesday morning listening to “All Matter” from Robert Glasper’s Double Booked album on repeat for the last 2 hours and 3 glasses of red wine in, there seems to be a disconnect on sharing with you the ultimate experience I had this weekend witnessing The Robert Glasper Experiment. Could it be that I’m at a loss of words???? 

Shouldn’t be… It should be rather simple to tell you that I felt like I levitated after watching Robert Glasper on keys, Chris “Daddy” Dave on drums, Derrick Hodge on bass and Casey Benjamin on Sax/Melodica. That experience gave me the ultimate highness. Every musician in Atlanta, GA that is always gigging and never comes to a show unless their getting paid to perform, was “in the building.” (Private Joke) It was an artistic haven. Only the folks that could really understand came out to interpret what this experiment was all about. I stood there and watched while Chris Dave suffered Rhythmic Tourette Syndrome with his foot and drumsticks. He is AMAZING and I have titled him MY FAVORITE DRUMMER. No disrespect to any other drummers that I love, respect and know personally but Chris got this thing going on with the drums that makes me feel some kind of way. Chris by himself was worth paying the ticket price but then you had Derrick Hodge that was playing the bass like he invented the instrument.  I’m a bass person (remember I’m from Miami) and that sound is so critical to me. If the bass ain’t right, the whole experience is off but Derrick kept it on course and made the sound complete for the night. Casey was the front man playing the Melodica for vocals and the Sax at other times.  From his look to the way he played with the group, made sense why he would be upfront on stage. I have never seen anyone handle the Melodica up close and personal like he did and it was the perfect sound to add to the experimental melody. 

Now as for the man himself, Robert Glasper. What can I say? I think this is where my writer’s block kicks in cause it’s difficult for me to type in black and white the many shapes and colors I saw when he organized and presented the sound coming from the stage. I watched while his hands were spread across the keys moving so quickly, looking like they weren’t doing anything but still pushing weights from the keys.  It was chaotic and confusing yet mastered. A highness of sound that was well grounded. A contradiction of wave patterns that was soothing to the soul. I get why all the reviews I read about him considered him a genius.  Only a genius can gather a group of people, give us an experiment and leave us all wanting more.

If you missed out on the show, you then missed Musiq Soulchild jumping on stage and not only singing “Beautiful” but feeling the music so much that he started to use his talented voice as an actual horn instrument. You also missed Bryan Michael Cox singing background for Musiq but sounding so good that it left you wondering if he was going to release an album. Come on Mr. Cox, we hear you.
For those that were there, I feel like we’re part of a secret society. We can never look at each other the same cause we all participated in The Robert Glasper Experiment. Feeling like we’ve just been Glasperized!

Here’s a list of links for you to enjoy what you missed or experienced:
Video from the opening of their show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_KDVFAMEQI

A photographic journey from the night:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyMzTgUeBp8

More Photos from the show:
http://3680photography.com/

A free song written and produced by Zynzelay off of a Robert Glasper outtake:
http://www.mediafire.com/?iit0ymdktkj

Anasa, Musiq, Yours Truly & Robert Glasper at 595 North for XperienceATL. ***This picture was taken by Karen Mason of Honor Resepect.

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