Artists such as DJ Quantic and Robert Glasper are folding strains of jazz into a mix that sounds natural on the dance floor. The beat-tastic result is moving forward, no matter what you call it.
The cavernous dance club in downtown L.A. is hopping, and the weekend is still a day away. The club is ordinarily a hotbed of thumping house music, but tonight, the headliner — Houston-born jazz pianist and bandleader Robert Glasper — is switching things up.
Behind a bank of keyboards, Glasper leads his quartet through a restless swirl of searching piano melody, causing the crowd to sway under the hazy colored lights. As the song gathers into focus, one musician begins repeating an unmistakable, 40-year-old refrain, his voice shaded by electronics: “A love supreme…. A love supreme…"
This introduction of John Coltrane (or at least the sounds he inspired) into a modern dance club was a gratifying, chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter moment, but it isn't a singular event. The night's opener, British electronic producer and DJ Quantic, made for an easy transition to Glasper, with a live band swerving through funk and soul-jazz.
The cavernous dance club in downtown L.A. is hopping, and the weekend is still a day away. The club is ordinarily a hotbed of thumping house music, but tonight, the headliner — Houston-born jazz pianist and bandleader Robert Glasper — is switching things up.
Behind a bank of keyboards, Glasper leads his quartet through a restless swirl of searching piano melody, causing the crowd to sway under the hazy colored lights. As the song gathers into focus, one musician begins repeating an unmistakable, 40-year-old refrain, his voice shaded by electronics: “A love supreme…. A love supreme…"
This introduction of John Coltrane (or at least the sounds he inspired) into a modern dance club was a gratifying, chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter moment, but it isn't a singular event. The night's opener, British electronic producer and DJ Quantic, made for an easy transition to Glasper, with a live band swerving through funk and soul-jazz.
