Disc One:
1. Time Travelin’ [6:15]
2. Heat [3:05]
3. Nag Champa [2:10]
4. Invocation [1:59]
5. Respiration [3:20]
6. Dooinit [2:46]
7. Coldblooded [2:56]
8. Sex Machine [5:20]
9. freestyle [1:07]
10. Resurrection [2:51]
11. Still DRE [1:18]
12. (introducing the band) [3:03]
13. Ghetto Heaven (with Bilal) [5:33]
14. Soul Sista (with Bilal) [6:19]
15. Funky For You (with Bilal) [8:19]
16. I Used To Love H.E.R. [4:49]
17. The Light (with Bilal) [5:39]
Disc Two:
1. DJ Dumi plays around [1:40]
2. Thelonius [2:38]
3. The 6th Sense [4:32]
Encores:
4. The Love Of My Life > I Know You Got Soul > freestyle > solos > FINALE [18:48]
Common – MC
A Black Girl Named Becky: Alan Palmer – Fender Rhodes, Congas (WDC) Junius Bervine – clavinet (Philly) Kevin Arthur – bass (Philly) Deon Harold – horn (St. Louis) Mark Colenburg – drums (St. Louis) Deshawn Jenkins – lead guitar (Detroit) DJ Dumi – turntables
+ special guest Bilal – vocals
Shortly after D’Angelo disbanded The Soultronics in late 2000 to begin working on his (still) long awaited follow up to Voodoo, Roy Hargrove, a former member of The Soultronics and an established jazz musician in his own right, decided to take his music in a more funk and soul oriented direction.
In late 2002, Hargrove debuted his new band, The RH Factor, at the Monterey Jazz Festival. This new group included two other Soultronics alumnus, Chalmers “Spanky” Alford and “Brother Jacques Schwarz-Bart. Your interest should be piqued. If not, just press play and listen to the interplay of the dual drum kits held down by Willie Jones III and Jason Thomas. Add the keyboard stylings and soulful vocals of Miss Renée Neufville and it is clear that Mr. Hargrove had hit upon quite a combo.
The band went on to put out an EP and 2 albums featuring many guests, including D’Angelo, Q-Tip, Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu and Common. All 3 discs are highly recommended. In the following years, Hargrove continued to tour sporadically with The RH Factor in Europe, although with various members changes. To my knowledge their most recent tour was in 2009. Let’s hope that Hargrove again decides to divert his attention from his straight ahead jazz in favor of the deep jazz funk that this group produces.
Roy Hargrove & The RH Factor
April 2nd, 2004
Cully Jazz Festival, Switzerland @ Chapiteau de Cully
FM/SBD > ? > CDR > EAC > WAV > MP3
1. In A Silent Way 7:18
2. It’s About That Time 6:14
3. It’s About That Time (cont.) 4:51
4. Hardgroove > Pastor T 24:06
5. Forget Regret 10:40
6. “Truth Be Told” 3:50 (fade out, end)
Roy Hargrove (tp, voc)
The RH Factor: Renée Neufville (voc, keyb) Keith Anderson (ts, as) Jacques Schwarz-Bart (ts, f, g) Bobby Sparks (keyb, org) Chalmers “Spanky” Alford (g) Reggie Washington (b) Jason Thomas (dr) Willie Jones III (dr)
Last weekend I had the pleasure of finally witnessing The Robert Glasper Experiment do their thing. Although drummer Chris “Daddy” Dave wasn’t on this tour, replacement Mark Colenburg more than held his own. (As I knew he would after I saw him play with The Robert Glasper Trio last month in St. Louis. Don’t miss my audio recording of that here.)
On this chilly Chicago night, special guest Bilal joined the Experiment for 3 tunes: the David Bowie cover, Letter To Hermione, the J Dilla produced Reminisce, and his seminal piece, All Matter. On top of that, the Experiment played for well over 2 hours without a break. One of the highlights for me was Glasper repeatedly teasing Radiohead‘s Everything In Its Right Place during this 6 minute piano solo, which led into All Matter. I ended up shooting 48 minutes of footage using my video camera, external microphone and monopod. Check it out below:
The Robert Glasper Experiment
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Butterfly (Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters cover):
The Robert Glasper Experiment
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Lift Off (inc. drum solos):
The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Reminisce:
The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
Piano solo (inc. Everything In Its Right Place teases) > All Matter:
The Robert Glasper Experiment & Bilal
March 10, 2012 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door
All Matter (continued):
The Robert Glasper Experiment: Robert Glasper: keys Casey Benjamin: saxophones, keytar, vocoder, keys Derrick Hodge: bass Mark Colenburg: drums
+ special guest Bilal: vocals
Full setlist: A Love Supreme (John Coltrane cover), A Tear To A Smile (Roy Ayers cover), Butterfly (Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters cover), Letter To Hermione (David Bowie cover) (with Bilal), Lift Off (inc. drum solos), Bass solo > Say Yes (Floetry cover), Cherish The Day (Sade cover), Reminisce (with Bilal), Piano solo (w/ Everything In It’s Right Place teases) > All Matter (with Bilal), Ah Yeah > Drum solo > Smells Like Teen Spirit
If you made it this far, then you’re probably interested in the other Robert Glasper recordings I’ve been posting lately:
(1) these 3/20/12 Experiment Chicago videos
(2) 2/27/12 Experiment WNYC radio session audio here
(3) Experiment with Roy Ayers & Pete Rock @ North Sea Jazz Fest last year here
and
(4) there are 2 other goodies, but you’ll have to search my facebook page for it (hint: March 3rd).
