Why jazz star Robert Glasper felt compelled to address the issue of police shootings in the US

In advance of his jazz festival gig, Robert Glasper tells Alan O’Riordan about his genre-straddling music and why he felt compelled to address the issue of police shootings in the US

ROBERT Glasper’s 2005 debut on Blue Note, Canvas, opens with ‘Rise and Shine’. It’s a well-named track — bright, tight and assured. Here is a young pianist who’s ready to roll in the grand tradition of the piano quartet.

Few, though, in the core jazz audience could have guessed where exactly Glasper would end up. In the years since, he’s recorded with Stevie Wonder, Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, will.i.am, Kendrick Lamar, Jill Scott, Norah Jones, Kanye West and a slew of other top hiphop and R&B artists.