“The crowd sat in awe throughout their set.” —Revive
Two of today’s most influential contemporary jazz pianists team up for a US-exclusive summit combining their artistry and virtuosity in what promises to be an unforgettable evening. Informed by the entire history of jazz as well as essential American musical forms of hip-hop, blues, gospel, and soul, Jason Moran and Robert Glasper are high school friends from Houston who have since changed the face of American jazz in the 21st century.
Noted for his percussive attack and interdisciplinary collaborations with leading filmmakers and visual artists (such as Milestone, his 2005 Walker-commissioned collaboration with artist Adrian Piper), Moran continues to impact the music and art of our time. For his first Walker engagement, Glasper’s mix of jazz chops, R&B and soul wisdom, and collaborative work from across the pop, jazz, and dance spectrum promises to be a revelation. The duets will span music from 1930s boogie of Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis to Thelonious Monk, Wayne Shorter, and J. Dilla as well as each of their own rich catalogues of compositions.
When Moran and Glasper opened the 75th-anniversary celebration of Blue Note Records at Town Hall in New York, they tore it up—all present agreed that it was a moment simultaneously and ecstatically looking backward and forward at the art form of jazz.
