Black Radio III

"Pianist Glasper has perfected the art of creating live jazz grooves that sounds like hip-hop samples, inviting big-name rappers to perform on them. Here, informed by the BLM movement, the lyrics on his third 'Black Radio' LP are often mournful ... Sometimes the mournfulness is sublime: "Why We Speak" is a blissful piece of neo-soul featuring Esperanza Spalding and Q-Tip, while Lalah Hathaway and Common lead a deliciously slow and soulful Tears For Fears cover".

"It's not that much has changed musically since BR2; Glasper's formula still finds R&B angels sharing space with feisty MCs while agile beats propel dreamy funk - ziggin' retro while zaggin' modern. But this time around, in a post-#BLMworld, it's as much about the politics of uplift as it is the vagaries of romance. The 44-year-old bandleader is a guy who knows that being yourself can mean being many things; the more he embraces his multiplicity, the more he sounds like Robert Glasper".