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An amazing new chapter in the career of Robert Glasper – one of our favorite new jazz musicians of the past decade or so! This set features loads of Glasper's enigmatic piano lines – those fluid, elliptical sounds that are always filled with plenty of soul and imagination – matched here with guest vocals from a host of key talents – including Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Musiq Soulchild, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bilal, and Lupe Fiasco! The blend is surprisingly wonderful – not a sell out at all, but a way for Glaspar's music to reach a rich new level of expression – as the vocals really help the instrumental elements come alive – and unlock this side of Robert's potential that was always lurking in the background. One of the best musical moments we've heard from Blue Note in years – with titles that include "Always Shine", "Move Love", "Ah Yeah", "Lift Off", "Afro Blue", "Cherish The Day", "Black Radio", and "Letter To Hermione".

An amazing new chapter in the career of Robert Glasper – one of our favorite new jazz musicians of the past decade or so! This set features loads of Glasper's enigmatic piano lines – those fluid, elliptical sounds that are always filled with plenty of soul and imagination – matched here with guest vocals from a host of key talents – including Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Musiq Soulchild, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bilal, and Lupe Fiasco! The blend is surprisingly wonderful – not a sell out at all, but a way for Glaspar's music to reach a rich new level of expression – as the vocals really help the instrumental elements come alive – and unlock this side of Robert's potential that was always lurking in the background. One of the best musical moments we've heard from Blue Note in years – with titles that include "Always Shine", "Move Love", "Ah Yeah", "Lift Off", "Afro Blue", "Cherish The Day", "Black Radio", and "Letter To Hermione".

Classic-styled soul from Musiq Soulchild – his debut set for Def Soul, and the start of a great run of mellow grooves! As you might guess from the compressed wording of the title, the tunes here have a great set of flow – a laidback, kicked-back sort of sound that's not nearly as full-on or swaggering as other male soul of the time. Musiq's even more relaxed than D'Angelo here – and the tunes are awash in warm keyboard lines and mellow bubbling beats – all with plenty of room for Musiq to stretch out in some sweeeeeet vocal lines. Titles include "Speechless", "You & Me", "Just Friends (Sunny)", "Girl Next Door", "Mary Go Round", "Love", "Poparatzi", and "You Be Alright".

A surprisingly wonderful tribute to the genius of Earth Wind & Fire – new versions of some of the group's best songs from the 70s, all put together in a set that was supervised by Maurice White himself! The package is hardly the scatter-shot affair that other tribute albums tend to be – and instead, there's a nicely unified sound that really revives the most soulful aspects of Earth Wind & Fire's music, but points it strongly towards a new generation in the 21st Century! The artists really preserve the warmth that made the original work so great – and although some of the styles are relatively modern, they've got plenty of classic undertones too. Titles include "Love's Holiday" by Lalah Hathaway, "That's The Way Of The World" by Dwele, "Reasons" by Musiq Soulchild, "Devotion" by Ledisi, "Can't Hide Love" by The Randy Watson Experience with Bilal, "Fantasy" by Meshell Ndegocello, "September" by Kirk Franklin, "Be Ever Wonderful" by Angie Stone, and "Shining Star" by Chaka Khan.