When the super group R+R=NOW takes the stage at the Pigeon Island National Landmark in Saint Lucia, on Sunday, May 13, it will be a blend of rap, R&B, soul, funk and jazz, sprinkled with a splash of reggae, much good humour, and a strong social and political message.

R+R=NOW is the new super group put together by Grammy Award-winning producer, pianist, bandleader and arranger Robert Glasper. R+R=NOW stands for Reflect+Respond=NOW, so named by Glasper, after being inspired by late soul singer Nina Simone, who said that an artist's duty is to reflect the times.

“When you reflect what’s going on in your time and respond to that, you can’t not be relevant,” Glasper explained. “So R plus R equals NOW.”

In addition to Glasper, the collective is comprised of music renaissance man Terrace Martin, jazz composer/instrumentalist Christian Scott Adjuah, composer/record producer Derrick Hodge, DJ/producer Taylor McFerrin, and up-and-coming musician Justin Tyson. Each member is instrumental in the super group’s sound, with Glasper on piano, Martin on synthesizer and vocoder, Adjuah on trumpet, Hodge on bass, McFerrin on synth and beatbox, and Tyson on drums.

“Everyone in this band is a six-foot tall black guy who didn’t come from an affluent background. In order for us all to make it into that room together, we’ve had to go through some hell, fight for some things, build up a lot of armor, and do a lot ourselves to forge our realities, to become who we are. We’re all very aware of that, so anytime we get together, it’s a celebration,” said Christian Scott Adjuah.

The celebration descends on Saint Lucia’s Pigeon Island National Landmark on Sunday, May 13, for the closing act of Saint Lucia Jazz 2018. Also featured on that day will be Martinique’s Frantz Laurac, Saint Lucia’s Ronald Boo Hinkson and American soul singer, composer and pianist Avery*Sunshine.

R+R=NOW’s performance at Saint Lucia Jazz 2018 will be followed by a huge after-party that will also launch Carnival 2018, the next event on the SOLEIL Summer Festival calendar. The Jazz After-Party/Carnival Kick-off will feature Destra and her band Bakanal, Shal Marshall, 2016 Red Bull Thr3estyle World Champion – DJ Puffy, Ezra d Fun Machine, Hollywood HP, Mata & Migos, ShemmyJ & Nerdy and the band Evalucian!.