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Robert Glasper Experiment Returns to Blue Note with Star-Studded ‘Black Radio 2’

The Robert Glasper Experiment

The year just got a lot more soulful. This October 29, the Robert Glasper Experiment will return to Blue Note Records with Black Radio 2, reports Okayplayer, who yesterday premiered the opalescent album teaser “Calls,” featuring Jill Scott.

The jazz pianist and his ensemble scored a crossover hit with last year’s Black Radio, a collection of R&B-inflected songs featuring guest vocals from Erykah Badu, Lupe Fiasco, Bilal, Yasiin Bey (f.k.a. Mos Def), and Meshell Ndegeocello, among others; after topping Billboard‘s jazz chart and iTunes’ R&B chart, it took home the 2013 Grammy for Best R&B Album. Part of the album’s appeal was the way it turned pop songs into contemporary standards, delivering smart, surprising covers of Sade’s “Cherish the Day,” David Bowie’s “Letter to Hermione,” and even, amazingly, Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which became a staple in the trailblazing Detroit DJ Theo Parrish’s sets last year.

Save for a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Jesus Children of America,” Black Radio 2 will focus exclusively on new compositions, but the guest list is, if anything, even more outrageous than last time, featuring not just the ubiquitous Emeli Sandé and jazzbo types Norah Jones and Dwele, but also Snoop Dogg, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump (!), Faith Evans, Jill Scott, Anthony Hamilton, Lalah Hathaway, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

Glasper clearly isn’t letting that Grammy trophy weigh him down. He recently teamed up with Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience co-writer James Fauntleroy on Terrace Martin’s “No Wrong, No Right,” a bassy, buoyant swirl of vintage boom-bap and trippy, West Coast atmospherics. Listen to the Robert Glasper Experiment and Jill Scott’s “Calls” below, and scroll down for the track listing.

Black Radio 2 track list:

1. “Baby Tonight (Black Radio Intro)”
2. “I Stand Alone” featuring Common and Patrick Stump
3. “What Are We Doing” featuring Brandy
4. “Calls” featuring Jill Scott
5. “No Worries” featuring Dwele
6. “Trust” featuring Marsha Ambrosius
7. “Yet to Find” featuring Anthony Hamilton
8. “You Own Me” featuring Faith Evans
9. “Let It Ride” featuring Norah Jones
10. “Persevere” featuring Snoop Dogg and Lupe Fiasco
11. “Somebody Else” featuring Emeli Sandé
12. “Jesus Children of America” featuring Lalah Hathaway and Malcolm-Jamal Warner