Double Booked (2009)
“Jazz is dead,” Kanye once said. This was probably before he heard Double Booked by Robert Glasper. Glasper has taken the task of making Jazz, the first true American art form, relevant to the youth.
Double Booked is the prototype for Robert Glasper Experiment’s Black Radio that melded jazz with hip-hop, R&B, and rock & roll. It’s a mix of both Robert Glasper’s bands- the more traditional Jazz sounding Robert Glasper Trio and the contemporary hip-hop leaning Jazz sound of Robert Glasper Experiment. Hence the name, Double Booked.
The album begins with an intro mentioning Questlove at a show where both bands are booked, setting the scene for the track. Robert Glasper is a jazz pianist and the piano is prominent in the arrangements of the songs. The more you can appreciate a fine piano, the more you’ll appreciate Double Booked. This holds especially true to the Robert Glasper Trio section which has less musical variety than the Robert Glasper Experiment section that skirts genres and features more up-tempo songs.
Double Booked is a place to find love for Jazz. When the monotony of jazz in the Robert Glasper Trio becomes too much, the eccentric mesh of genres in the Robert Glasper Experiment intrigues and re-energizes. When Robert Glasper Experiment becomes to spastic and varied for the ears to enjoy, the comfort of Robert Glasper Trio is there. This is the cycle of listening to Double Booked.
