2007 · Album
In My Element
Recorded September 21 – November 1, 2006 at Systems Two Studios, Brooklyn · Blue Note Records · Produced by Robert Glasper and Eli Wolf
Finding Your Voice in the Studio
Glasper and Wolf built something lean and focused, letting the rhythm section breathe.
By the time Robert Glasper made In My Element (2007), he had already established himself as a pianist worth paying attention to. This third studio album arrived at a point where he could afford to be selective—not trying to prove anything, just making a record that sounded like him. Working with producer Eli Wolf, Glasper kept things tight. The sessions happened over a focused five-week stretch in Brooklyn, which shows in how deliberate the album feels. Nothing here seems accidental or overcooked.
The rhythm section—Vicente Archer on bass and Damion Reid on drums—locks in tight enough that you forget to think about how many people are actually playing. They're the kind of players who understand space, who know that saying nothing is sometimes the smartest move. Reverend Joe Ratliff adds spoken word, which could have felt like a gimmick but instead works as another textural layer. The album moves through straight-ahead jazz, funk-touched grooves, and quieter moments without any of that sense of strain that comes when a musician is trying too hard to be versatile.
Critics picked up on the confidence here. All About Jazz and AllMusic both gave it four stars, recognizing something solid and unpretentious. It's not the album to reach for if you want Glasper at his most adventurous or his most experimental. But if you want to hear him with a clean, strong idea of what he wanted to say and the chops to say it, In My Element is exactly that. The album belongs in the conversation with his stronger work, a moment when he had both the skills and the clarity to match them.
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