About this Artist

R+R=NOW is a different kind of supergroup. Yes, every musician is a celebrated artist in their own right, but as much as anything this group tells the story of community as it does of individuals, because this supergroup made each other before they made the band. Terrace Martin (synth, vocoder, sax) may be best-known as the architect of Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly and acclaimed hip-hop producer for the likes of Snoop Dogg, but before all that he was Robert Glasper’s best friend at jazz camp. Meanwhile, long before his work as acclaimed composer and conductor, or musical director for the likes of Maxwell and Jill Scott, Derrick Hodge (bass) was a founding member of the Robert Glasper Experiment. Robert himself cut his teeth in the fertile late night world of New York’s music scene alongside contemporaries including Esperanza Spalding and Freelance’s star drummer Justin Tyson (drums). And it was at Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy that a 14 year old Chief Adjuah (trumpet) and Robert Glasper (keys) encountered each other for the first time amidst an argument Robert was having about jazz with Chief's Uncle Donald Harroson. Fitting, then, that both Robert and Chief went on to change the face of the genre; crossing boundaries and forging sounds that came to redefine what we think of as jazz. Meanwhile the music of both Taylor McFerrin (synths) and his iconic father, Bobby, were shaping a parallel sense of brilliance and freedom that pervades the entire catalogue of black contemporary music, completing a journey of black excellence in royal fashion.

R+R= NOW (Reflect + Respond) is a homage to Nina Simone’s notion that “an artist’s duty is to reflect the times” - but for these musicians that means as much a reflection of a creative moment, movement and family as it does a response to the world, and the ways in which music can be meaningful in ways far beyond the stage. As a result, every time this group comes together it is a unique celebration of the power of music - and of people.