Robert Glasper with special guest Bilal

Robert Glasper, born in Houston, Texas and raised by his mother, a professional blues and jazz singer who was his earliest and most formative influence, has won five Grammy Awards across eleven nominations while bridging jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and neo soul. At the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York, Glasper forged a key relationship with vocalist Bilal, an old schoolmate who has remained a close collaborator ever since. His breakthrough 2012 album Black Radio won the Grammy for Best R&B Album and established him as a leading figure in contemporary Black music, and Bilal’s own contributions to that album, along with his prior work on Glasper’s Double Booked track All Matter, cemented one of jazz’s most enduring modern partnerships. Glasper has since played on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly, won a Primetime Emmy for his song A Letter to the Free featured in Ava DuVernay’s 13th, and served as an Artist in Residence at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Blue Note Jazz Club. This performance reunites Glasper with Bilal for a night blending jazz improvisation with the rhythms and soul that have defined both of their careers.