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. 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. 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. 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. 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. In 2021, he posthumously reached the Top Five of the jazz albums chart with
In Harmony, a duo album with pianist
Mulgrew Miller.
Hargrove was born in 1969 in Waco, Texas, and moved with his family to Dallas when he was nine years old. There, his father bought him a pawnshop cornet. 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. At age 17, he caught the attention of
Wynton Marsalis, who was visiting his school to hold a music clinic.
Marsalis began mentoring
Hargrove, having him sit in with his band and introducing him to the wider jazz community. Soon, the young trumpeter was performing alongside other luminaries, including
Bobby Watson,
Ricky Ford,
Carl Allen, and the group Superblue.
Hargrove also spent a year at Boston's Berklee College of Music before leaving school and moving to New York City.
In 1990, the then 20-year-old
Hargrove made his solo debut with
Diamond in the Rough for Novus. 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. and
Al Foster. Around the same time, he also joined saxophonist
Sonny Rollins for a high-profile concert at New York's Carnegie Hall. 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.
By 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. 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. The album also showcased his group at the time with saxophonist
Ron Blake, pianist
Stephen Scott, bassist
Rodney Whitaker, and drummer
Gregory Hutchinson. The same ensemble returned the following year with
Family, which also featured a guest appearance by
Wynton Marsalis. 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.
Following 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. A critical success, the album took home the Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. A year later, he delivered another ambitious release with the orchestral ballads album
Moment to Moment.
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. 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.
Always creatively restless,
Hargrove continued to branch out into other styles in the 2000s, bringing his chops to projects by artists beyond the jazz idiom. 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. There were also sessions with
John Mayer, guitarist
Danny Gatton, and singer
Gladys Knight. 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. In between more straight-ahead jazz sessions, he would return to the ensemble, releasing 2004's
Strength and 2006's
Distractions -- vibrant productions that found him communing with soul, hip-hop, and gospel artists alike, including saxophonists
David "Fathead" Newman and
Karl Denson, keyboardists
Bobby Sparks and
Bernard Wright, bassist
Pino Palladino, vocalist
Renee Neufville, and others.
While soul and hip-hop would continue to inform his music,
Hargrove remained just as devoted to the jazz tradition. He toured regularly, often leading his acoustic quintet, a group he showcased on 2006's
Nothing Serious, mixing his own compositions alongside those by his bandmates, as well as finely curated standards. In 2008, he released his second quintet album,
Earfood, which featured pianist
Gerald Clayton, bassist
Danton Boller, drummer
Montez Coleman, and saxophonist
Justin Robinson. Included on the set was the
Hargrove original "Strasbourg St. Denis," a funky, instrumental soul jam that would become one of his signature tunes. He returned the following year leading a 19-member big band on
Emergence, which also found him singing (something he had done more frequently in the 2000s). It was also during this period that young pianist
Jon Batiste toured with the group before moving on to his own storied career.
While
Hargrove's output slowed in the 2010s, due in part to his issues with kidney disease and ongoing dialysis, he remained vital, touring regularly and appearing on albums with
Christian McBride,
Roy Haynes,
Theo Croker, and
the 1975. Sadly,
Hargrove died in November 2018 at age 49 from cardiac arrest associated with his kidney disease. In 2021, he posthumously returned to the Top Five of the jazz charts with Resonance Records archival album,
In Harmony, which captured him in two duo concerts with pianist
Mulgrew Miller from 2006 and 2007. ~ Matt Collar