Robert Glasper Experiment at Founders Weekend Fest

On Saturday, May 14, Military Park became awash with the misty air of jazz hip hop fusion emanating from Grammy winning artists Robert Glasper Experiment who electrified the stage in their opening act performance to legendary hip hop icons Naughty by Nature. The audience of thousands gathered shoulder to shoulder under a gray Newark sky and were entranced by the ghost like saxophone styling and vocals of Casey Benjamin that accented the sparks of purple and green lights that filled the stage.

Military Park’s lawn was filled with high powered speakers allowing their hypnotic sound to float distances throughout downtown Newark.  As the sun peeked from behind the clouds for one last time before sunset, listeners were caught in a kaleidoscopic trip, paired with auto tune and magic. A short intermission of rain stopped the show for a few minutes but did not scare fans away. Robert Glasper came back to his keyboard and thanked the audience for a warm welcome in the band’s first performance in Newark. The band also enthusiastically spoke with the media and posed for pictures with fans backstage including the young Alexis Morrast, one of Newark’s up and coming teen artists.