The Hope College Concert Series will host the Robert Glasper Experiment on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
The Robert Glasper Experiment will headline the show, featuring Robert Glasper himself with other musicians. Glasper is a respected and active musician, composer, and producer, and his musicianship and creativity is in high demand with fellow artists.
The group has collaborated and performed with a variety of artists and MCs including Lupe Fiasco, Mos Def, Kanye West and Beyonce. The members of the group have been playing together for some time, but they are currently touring in support of their first full-length Robert Glasper Experiment album, “Black Radio.” This album, which will also be released in February, features various artists and vocalists.
In describing Glasper’s style, NPR has noted, “Robert Glasper straddles two distinct worlds. He’s an accomplished jazz pianist, who was signed to Blue Note Records in his mid-twenties. And he works with lots of hip-hop and R&B artists, both in the studio and on the stage.”
The Robert Glasper Experiment focuses on more than rhythm and blues, and Hip-Hop sound. Kristen Zwicker of the New York magazine “Time Out” said of a show featuring the Experiment and Lupe Fiasco, “The night contained pretty much anything a person could hope for in a show.” And she said of the Robert Glasper Experiment, “The players bent the rules at every opportunity, while still laying down a groove that was both tantalizingly loose and utterly inescapable. Each member had a virtuosic command of his instrument.”
The Oregon-based group American Hybrid, featuring 2011 Hope graduate Nate Roberts on guitar, will be opening the night with their own unique and energetic sound.
Tickets are $12 for the general public and $5 for Hope students, and are available online at https://tickets.hope.edu/ticketing as well as at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse. The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and may be called at (616) 395-7890. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door.
The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Avenue, between Ninth and 11th streets. The Knickerbocker Theatre is located in downtown Holland at 86 E. Eighth St.
The doors will open at 7:30 p.m. the night of the concert.