Mr. Roberts's ideas are not coming out of the blue, but the blues. He is influenced by the work of Albert Murray, the critic and historian, who writes about how jazz tradition functions and who has been a profound influence on Mr. Marsalis. Mr. Murray argues that jazz emerged from the blues as musicians improvised and experimented with its most basic forms. A tradition grew outward around those elements, such as blues feeling and swing, surviving from one generation to the next. The musician's ability to experiment with those forms carries the tradition forward.
All pianists borrow from their predecessors.
What is exceptional about Mr. Roberts's art is not just how far back he has reached into the history of the piano and how much he has pulled into the present. It is the manner in which he has integrated his influences into a singular piano art. Check out his solo piano recordings. In each, Mr. Roberts uses the album as a structure in which to carry on a multilayered historical jazz conversation. We hear Mr. Roberts absorbing their styles.