February 25, 2014
Robert Glasper Experiment has released Porter Chops Glasper, a digital EP that is available today through all digital music retailers and streaming services including iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. The 3-track EP—which was originally released as an exclusive 10” for Record Store Day’s Back To Black Friday—features remixes of Glasper’s work by Mr Porter (aka Denaun Porter), an avid Glasper fan who is best known as Eminem’s right-hand hype man and founding member of the Detroit rap collective D12.
Included on the EP is Mr Porter’s remix of the hit single “Calls feat. Jill Scott” from Black Radio 2 that also features a new rap from Pharoahe Monch. The 12-minute track “Porter Chops Glasper” is an expansive re-imagining of Glasper’s Blue Note years in the form of a hip hop beat collage that samples various Glasper works from his first three albums: Canvas, In My Element and Double Booked.
“We miss this kinda of feeling in music today,” says Mr Porter. “Robert is a genius on keys and what better way to put back some soul into this game then two people that are fans of Dilla (the soul master) and make a great vision come to life. Robert’s approach to keys is similar to my approach to production,” Porter explains. “I think in samples. When I start a song or beat I hear it as a sample as if it’s a chop then I play it that way. He inspires me to think even further. The new music I have been creating since discovering his music has took me beyond just samples but I now arrange way deeper than before. Changes are a must for me now and hip hop will never be the same after I’m done with it and this has all been because of Robert’s influence!”
Glasper recently visited the NPR Music offices in Washington DC to perform an intimate Tiny Desk Concert with bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Mark Colenburg. Special guest vocalist Marsha Ambrosius joined them performance of “Trust” from Black Radio 2. Glasper also performed the spontaneous improvisation “NPR Tiny Desk Jam” and “F.T.B.” from In My Element. Watch the session here.
RGX has also announced extensive international tour dates that begin this week in Australia and will bring the band through Asia and Europe before returning to the U.S. for a tour with vocalist Ledisi (who was featured on RGX’s first Black Radio album) that kicks off April 16 in Jacksonville, Florida and travels 27 cities including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. RGX will also make a stop in Washington DC on May 10 as part of the Kennedy Center’s Blue Note Records 75th Anniversary celebrations. See below for a full list of tour dates.
After winning the 2013 GRAMMY Award for Best R&B Album with Black Radio, RGX upped the ante with the October 2013 release of Black Radio 2, another genre-defying effort that took the Black Radio blueprint and built to even greater heights. Providing the vocals throughout is another jaw-dropping roll call of vocalists including Common, Patrick Stump, Brandy, Jill Scott, Dwele, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton, Faith Evans, Norah Jones, Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Luke James, Emeli Sandé, Lalah Hathaway, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
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The track listing for Porter Chops Glasper is as follows:
1. Calls feat. Jill Scott – Mr Porter Remix feat. Pharoahe Monch
2. Calls feat. Jill Scott – Mr Porter Remix (Instrumental)
3. Porter Chops Glasper
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT – 2014 TOUR DATES
February 27 – Chevron Festival Gardens – Perth, Australia
March 1 – Malasimbo Festival – Puerto Galera, Philippines
March 2 – Java Jazz Festival – Jakarta, Indonesia
March 7 – Forum Theatre – Melbourne, Australia
March 8 – The Hi-Fi Sydney – Sydney, Australia
March 10 – Mosaic Music Festival – Singapore, Singapore
March 12 – Hammersmith Apollo – London, United Kingdom
March 13 – La Cigale – Paris, France
March 15 – Porgy & Bess – Vienna, Austria
March 16 – Moods – Zurich, Switzerland
March 17 – Conne Island – Leipzig, Germany
March 18 – Mojo – Hamburg, Germany
March 20 – Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld – Cologne, Germany
March 21 – Het Depot – Brussels, Belgium
March 22 – Gretchen – Berlin, Germany
March 23 – Paloma – Nimes, France
March 24 – Salle Stephane Grappelli – Nice, France
March 25 – A Vaulx Jazz Festival – Lyon, France
March 27 – Nu Spirit Club – Bratislavia, Slovakia
March 28 – Dr. Studio 2 – Copenhagen, Denmark
March 29 – Faschings – Stockholm, Sweden
March 30 – Nerundy Festival – Prague, Czech Republic
April 1 – Concorde 2 – Brighton, United Kingdom
April 2 – Academy – Manchester, United Kingdom
April 3 – The Institute – Birmingham, United Kingdom
April 4 – Gateshead Jazz Festival – Gateshead, United Kingdom
April 7 – Cully Jazz Festival – Cully, Switzerland
April 12 – Muziekgebouw Frits Philips – Eindhoven, Netherlands (with the Metropole Orchestra)
April 13 – McTheater – Amsterdam, Netherlands (with the Metropole Orchestra)
Ledisi Featuring Special Guest Robert Glasper Experiment
April 16 – Florida Theatre – Jacksonville, FL
April 17 – Saenger Theatre – Mobile, AL
April 18 – Orpheum Theater – Memphis, TN
April 19 – Murat Theatre – Indianapolis, IN
April 22 – Stranahan Theater – Toledo, OH
April 24 – Detroit Opera House – Detroit, MI
April 25 – Chicago Theatre – Chicago, IL
April 26 – Palace Theatre – Louisville, KY
April 27 – House of Blues – Cleveland, OH
April 28 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON
April 29 – August Wilson Center – Pittsburgh, PA (RGX Only)
April 30 – Beacon Theatre – New York, NY
May 1 – Tower Theatre – Philadelphia, PA
May 2 – Chrysler Hall – Norfolk, VA
May 4 – Pier 6 Pavilion – Baltimore, MD
May 6 – Durham Performing Arts Center – Durham, NC
May 8 – The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC
May 9 – Chastain Park Amphitheater – Atlanta, GA
May 10 – Kennedy Center – Washington DC (RGX ONLY)
May 13 – Midland Theatre – Kansas City, MO
May 14 – Majestic Theatre – Dallas, TX
May 16 – Bayou Music Center – Houston, TX
May 17 – ACL Live – Austin, TX
May 21 – Warfield Theatre – San Francisco, CA
May 22 – Club Nokia – Los Angeles, CA
May 23 – House of Blues – Las Vegas, NV
May 24 – San Diego Jazz Festival – San Diego, CA
May 25 – Woodlake Inn – Sacramento, CA
