Pianist Robert Glasper and multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin will be collaborating on a new all-star project. The name of the new band is R+R=NOW, which stands for Reflect+Respond=NOW, and was inspired by late soul singer-songwriter Nina Simone, who once famously said an artist’s duty is to reflect the times.
R+R=NOW will see Glasper and Martin teaming up with such artists as trumpeter Christian Scott, bassist Derrick Hodge, drummer Justin Tyson, and multi-instrumentalist Taylor McFerrin, son of Bobby McFerrin, to name a few. “Our story is from our point of view,” Glasper says. “Everybody’s sound is so different, but we all come from the same concrete garden. It’s a very honest, fluid sound that rings of hip-hop, EDM, jazz, at times – hell – reggae … a bunch of cats that respect each other’s so much that we always pass the ball.”
Glasper and Martin have previously contributed to music by such figures as Quincy Jones, Lamar, Common, Kanye West, Mos Def, and Q-Tip.