In addition, he formed his own funk- and hip-hop-influenced group the RH Factor, debuting the cross-pollinated outfit with 2003's Hard Groove, which featured guest appearances by D'Angelo, Common, Meshell Ndegeocello, Q-Tip, and others. There were also sessions with John Mayer, guitarist Danny Gatton, and singer Gladys Knight. He recorded with rapper Common, and supplied horn arrangements for neo-soul and hip-hop artists like D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, latter of whom he had gone to school with in Dallas. In 2003, they took home the Grammy for Best Jazz Album, Instrumental or Group for their concert recording Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall.Īlways creatively restless, Hargrove continued to branch out into other styles in the 2000s, bringing his chops to projects by artists beyond the jazz idiom. Hargrove stayed active into the 2000s, touring with Herbie Hancock in a Miles Davis tribute group that also featured saxophonist Michael Brecker, bassist John Patitucci, and drummer Brian Blade. A year later, he delivered another ambitious release with the orchestral ballads album Moment to Moment. A critical success, the album took home the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. That same year, Hargrove paired down to a trio with pianist Scott and bassist Christian McBride for Parker's Mood, interpreting many of saxophonist Charlie Parker's best-known bebop tunes.įollowing a trip to Havana, Cuba, Hargrove formed a ten-piece American and Cuban ensemble called Crisol, with whom he recorded 1997's Afro-Cuban-influenced Habana. The same ensemble returned the following year with Family, which also featured a guest appearance by Wynton Marsalis. The album also showcased his group at the time with saxophonist Ron Blake, pianist Stephen Scott, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. He signed with Verve and released With the Tenors of Our Time, which found him performing alongside such master saxophonists as Joe Henderson, Johnny Griffin, and Branford Marsalis. A bevy of equally engaging albums followed for Novus, including 1990's Public Eye, 1992's The Vibe, and 1993's Of Kindred Souls, all of which hit the Top Ten of the jazz charts.īy 1994, Hargrove was regularly landing on the top of critics' and readers' polls in jazz magazines, his popularity buoyed by his extensive touring and penchant for hitting late-night jam sessions. Around the same time, he also joined saxophonist Sonny Rollins for a high-profile concert at New York's Carnegie Hall. A fiery mix of originals and standards, the album showcased the trumpeter's chemistry with both younger and veteran players alike, including pianists Geoffrey Keezer and John Hicks, saxophonists Antonio Hart and Ralph Moore, and drummers Ralph Peterson, Jr. In 1990, the then 20-year-old Hargrove made his solo debut with Diamond in the Rough for Novus. Hargrove also spent a year at Boston's Berklee College of Music before leaving school and moving to New York City. Soon, the young trumpeter was performing alongside other luminaries, including Bobby Watson, Ricky Ford, Carl Allen, and the group Superblue. Marsalis began mentoring Hargrove, having him sit in with his band and introducing him to the wider jazz community. At age 17, he caught the attention of Wynton Marsalis, who was visiting his school to hold a music clinic. By his teens, Hargrove was already a firebrand trumpeter, competently drawing upon the tradition of players like Clifford Brown, Fats Navarro, Freddie Hubbard, and Miles Davis. There, his father bought him a pawnshop cornet. Hargrove was born in 1969 in Waco, Texas, and moved with his family to Dallas when he was nine years old. In 2021, he posthumously reached the Top Five of the jazz albums chart with In Harmony, a duo album with pianist Mulgrew Miller.
ROY HARGROVE OF KINDRED SOULS RAR SERIES
Prior to his too-early death in 2018 at age 49, Hargrove released a series of highly regarded acoustic albums, including the 2008 quintet date Earfood and the 2009 big-band album Emergence.
While never eschewing his jazz roots, he branched out, forming his funk and hip-hop outfit the RH Factor, and collaborating on a wide-ranging mix of projects with artists like D'Angelo, Common, John Mayer, Erykah Badu, and the 1975.
He earned accolades, taking home a Grammy Award for his ambitious Afro-Cuban album Habana, and playing alongside veteran legends like Sonny Rollins, Shirley Horn, Jimmy Smith, and others. Building upon the influence of players like Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, and his mentor Wynton Marsalis, Hargrove turned heads in the late 1980s and early '90s with his hard-swinging take on acoustic bop, as showcased on albums like 1990's Public Eye and 1995's Family. With his bold tone, swaggering solos, and deep grasp of the jazz tradition, trumpeter Roy Hargrove emerged as one of the most influential and immediately recognizable jazz musicians of his generation.
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