Robert Glasper to Teach NYU Course on Miles Davis

Published Apr 08, 2016

Set to pay tribute to Miles Davis next month with the release of Everything Is Beautiful , accomplished keyboardist Robert Glasper will now examine the work and legacy of the jazz great in an academic setting through co-teaching a new course at NYU.Helping teach the class at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music will be Grammy-winning journalist, producer and writer Ashley Kahn, with the course promising to "integrate a wide variety of musical styles, including jazz, rock, hip-hop, electronic, dance, and neo-soul, to analyze Davis's pioneering influence on more than six decades of music." A press release reveals that the course will be divided into two parts, with the first focusing on "readings, listening and viewing assignments that investigate the social, cultural, musical and business aspects of Miles's monumental accomplishments."The second will focus on "musicianship, performance, composition and production with students completing in-class and out-of-class assignments under Glasper's mentorship, deconstructing Miles's compositional and studio approaches, and working collaboratively with fellow students to produce and refine original musical works."The course marks Glasper's first foray into teaching at the university level. Kahn is the author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, while Glasper is also music supervisor for the recent biopic Miles Ahead, which stars Don Cheadle as the trumpeter."Every aspiring performer, producer, songwriter, composer and creative entrepreneur searching for success in today's popular music industry can learn from the genius of Miles," Kahn said in a statement. "Some of the greatest pop musicians of the last 50 years, from Joni Mitchell to Fela Kuti to D'Angelo, have enriched their music by engaging with the profound musical innovations that Miles helped bring to the fore."The course begins with the arrival of the fall semester on September 6. More information on the course can be found here Revisit Glasper's Davis tribute cut "Violets" from Everything Is Beautiful, which is due out May 27, in the player below.