ETHOS

By Paul Pennington

So….because we here at Ethos are a phenomenally lazy group (or just prefer to enjoy our summers) we have been dropping the ball. We probably won’t step our collective post games up until the fall (although I have a few posts collecting dust). While this makes no sense considering we will be overloaded with work in our junior years, we just like dope distractions like writing for Ethos…or Facebooking. To break the monotony of the Ethos silence I figured I would post this video of the Robert Glasper Experiment. First off Robert Glasper is probably my favorite modern jazz artist. Along with characters like Esperanza Spalding (opened for The Roots), Pimp & “Soil” Sessions (they’re from Japan-a place that still loves and respects jazz and hip-hop), and many other younger jazz artists, he is really bringing back a great musical genre. I recently bought one of his albums (if you know me you understand how extraordinary that truly is…)

For those that were there with me or happened to catch the concert at another venue, Glasper recently toured with Common and Q-Tip. He was the guy on the keys playing jazz guitarist Joe Pass’ cover of John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”…which in turn was sampled by J Dilla for Q-Tip’s “Let’s Ride” (most people at the concert were confused as to what he was doing…but as a musical nerd and a huge fan of all three songs, I went through what some like to call multiple eargasms). With Glasper added to my list of musical mancrushes that I have gushed over, I’ll move on to the Robert Glasper Experiment. This musical mind trust consists of jazz artists Derrick Hodge, Chris Dave, and Casey Benjamin, and implores the talents of artists such as Mos Def, Bilal and Q-Tip. The group fuses hip-hop with jazz stylings, reminiscent of Illadelph Halflife. They do random shows all the time and if there is a god I will catch one.

This particular video is one of my all-time favorites…I almost broke down completely after hearing this live instrumental of Black Star’s “Thieves in the Night” (understanding this song is like understanding a part of me…) with the Mos Def ad libs. This is music folks…pay attention.

p.s. expect a post soon about those newer jazz artists I mentioned earlier…in the mean time google/imeem/myspace…or buy those names immediately.

p.s.s. To understand my love of Robert Glasper check out this cut of off his 2007 album In My Element…entitled “J Dillalude”…wooooooow.