Unfortunately I only caught about 10 minutes of Robert Glasper’s set because his group came on nearly an hour after schedule and I had a train to catch, but in that time we saw some very skilled playing from his quartet of keyboards (Glasper), turntables (Jahi Sundance), bass (Burniss Travis II) and drums (Justin Tyson). Glasper himself as ever gave us some excellent Herbie Hancock licks, dancing in and out of key in the maestro’s archetypal, groundbreaking style and in the one number I saw the band skilfully wove in the theme of Hancock’s ingenious Actual Proof, which has became a fusion standard. That opening piece was, I think, a cover of J. Dilla’s The Shining Pt. 2 (Ice), its expletives an echo of Glasper’s own cuss-laden introduction to the audience, in which he expressed his motherfuckin’ delight at being in London and the newly appointed ambassador of the latest branch of the Blue Note club franchise. It was a powerful presentation, especially if you were seated by the stage where the sub-bass frequencies of Travis II’s six-string instrument hit you in the chest and Tyson’s whipcrack backbeat, complete with that hip-hop device of momentarily retarding the tempo, rattled around your head. The balance was better further back by the bar, situated more stage central, as I left, too early.
Before that, in the 55 minutes between programmed showtime and the quartet’s appearance, there was also a lot of action from boomy but rather indistinct background music and waiting staff who did an admirable job of finding their way around the club and service system on the night of the club’s “Grand Opening”. It was a bit chilly by the stage, perhaps courtesy of the dry ice billowing off the back of the stand but there was no mistaking the hot anticipation of the sold-out audience for Glasper and/or the venue’s debut and he got wild applause when he arrived. Most of his several November shows at the club are already sold out.
It’s a big room, well subterranean (I was reminded by the descent via several corridors and stairs of the walking component of my trip on the Piccadilly line from St Pancras) but it was well filled too (sold out), with food and drink a major part of the offer (Bread & Butter £6, Blue Note Burger £24) and possibly of the revenue model. Publicists, promoters and other interested parties are keen on saying jazz in London is booming but it’s still tough to make ends meet in this business. The Blue Note, like other London venues in and out of jazz may see itself as working beyond the hardcore music scene and identifying to some extent as a tourist destination. Certainly its billing tends towards the mainstream (not Stanley Dance’s mainstream, an embrace of swing in the face of bebop, but jazz-pop, in the broad sense of what’s hip), which may help it find that more generalist niche in a crowded jazz landscape. Its programming is certainly unlike that of most other venues at the moment. Future dates include Jamie Cullum, Baaba Maal, Erykah Badu, Laura Mvula and the Brand New Heavies but also, perhaps towards that ol’ mainstream, NYJO. The upcoming programme is at bluenotejazz.com/london/shows.
Robert Glasper at Blue Note London, 42-49 St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4EJ, 24 September 2026
