Robert Glasper-Led Supergroup, R+R=Now, Drops New Single, “Colors In The Dark”

Earlier this month, newly minted supergroup R+R=Now released their first single, “Change Of Tone”. The highly anticipated new project is led by the renowned Grammy-winning pianist and producer Robert Glasper, who plays keys for the band. R+R=Now also features Terrace Martin on synthesizer and vocoder, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet, Derrick Hodge on bass, Taylor McFerrin on synth and beatbox, and Justin Tyson on drums.

With a new album due out on June 15th, Collagically Speaking, via the iconic jazz label Blue Note, R+R=Now is poised to take over the jazz scene. For the project, Glasper found similarly visionary artists—many of whom are critically acclaimed in their own right—to join him for the collaboration. However, outside each player’s immense musical aptitude, the musicians in R+R=Now share in the belief that music should be used for a higher power. Given the daily negativity of news nowadays, the band hopes to inspire resilience, hope, and action among listeners.

The “R+R” within the band’s name stands for “Reflect” and “Respond”, with Glasper previously noting that the group was inspired while he was co-producing the companion album, Nina Revisited, for the acclaimed 2015 film, What Happened, Miss Simone? Nina Simone, a fiery activist in addition to a beloved musician, never shied away from political discourse and rallied against calls for her to “shut up and sing.” As Glasper noted in a press release, “When you reflect what’s going on in your time and respond to that, you can’t not be relevant. So ‘R’ plus ‘R’ equals ‘NOW’.”

However, even outside the mission of the group, the band stands alone as a force to be reckoned with. Bending genre and offering tastes of everything from West Coast jazz to neo-soul, future-funk to ambient electronica, instrumental hip-hop, and more, the project is fearless in its offerings. Furthermore, on the forthcoming record, the album includes guest voice cameos from actors Omari Hardwick (Power) and Terry Crews (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Expendables); actress Amanda Seales (Insecure); MCs Stalley and yasiin bey (f.k.a. Mos Def); and singers Amber Navran (of Moonchild) and Goapele.

You can listen to R+R=Now’s second single, “Colors In The Dark” below. After the supergroup’s new album, Collagically Speaking, is released on June 15th, the band will perform a handful of album celebration shows—including Atlanta on June 15th, Washington DC on June 16th, and Brooklyn on June 22nd—before heading to Europe for an extensive summer tour.