After the 2018 studio set Collagically Speaking comes a live album drawn from a month-long residency by Robert Glasper, biggest name among the big names in R+R=Now, a collective of established leaders and multiple fanbases. In plain and simple terms, whoever has tuned in to Glasper's Black Radio, Christian aTunde Adjuah's Diaspora, Derrick Hodge's The Second and Terrace Martin's Pollyseeds will not be disappointed. The contemporary electric vocabulary, with its post-Herbie funk squelch and pro-Kendrick hip-hop crunch, is handled as effectively as one would expect, and the improvisatory strength of each player means that the performance doesn't dip below requisite standards.

That is part of the problem, though. Making all that abundant talent gel into a band where the whole is greater than the sum of the not inconsiderable parts is no easy task. There are moments where the skills are not enhanced by a vital spark of unpredictability that takes the combo away from what it is capable of delivering, regardless of whether or not the crowd is calling for more.