"Afro Blue" — Robert Glasper

2025-08-25 · 57 min · episode 4 · 8 entities

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→ hosted by Peter Martin person

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→ hosted by Peter Martin & Adam Maness person

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Feed author/publisher: Peter Martin & Adam Maness
→ discusses Music concept

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→ discusses Music Commentary concept

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Entities found in this episode

persons 4

mentioned Peter Martin person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Peter Martin
mentioned Peter Martin & Adam Maness person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Peter Martin & Adam Maness
hosted by Peter Martin person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Peter Martin
hosted by Peter Martin & Adam Maness person

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Peter Martin & Adam Maness

concepts 4

mentioned Music Commentary concept

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Feed category: Music Commentary
mentioned Robert Glasper concept

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evidence rules-v5
"Afro Blue" — Robert Glasper
discusses Music concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music
discusses Music Commentary concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Music Commentary

Episode description as stored

When does Afro Blue and Smells Like Teen Spirit belong on the same record? When it's a Robert Glasper album! In 2012, Glasper's Black Radio brought together artists like Erykah Badu to bring a jazz standard, Afro Blue, back into the popular music canon. Black Radio hit #1 on the jazz charts, while simultaneously reaching #4 on the hip-hop R&B charts and #15 on the Top 200. The Blue Note pianist has been bending genres since the 90s, bringing together the best of traditional jazz and weaving it seamlessly with R&B, hip-hop, soul and rock & roll. And it all fits, because Glasper is equally at home in all of these categories. He grew up listening to all kinds of music, like Nirvana, Billy Joel, Busta Rhymes -- everything. Black Radio, he says, was a way to put his "life on wax". Rob Harvilla from 60 Songs to Explain the 90s: The 2000s joins Adam and Peter to dive into what makes this album great, and how it refutes from any attempt to categorize it. From the J. Dilla Influence, to Casey Benjamin's album-defining flute, to the Erykah Badu of it all, you'll never hear this album the same way again. And this album inspired what is possibly our best YHI outro yet. Let us know if you agree! 🟠 Get the YHI newsletter for bonus stories that didn't make the pod. 🔵 Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs.