Roy Hargrove was known as one of the premier players in jazz for the past quarter-century. As an incisive trumpeter, doubling on flugelhorn, Roy was discovered by Wynton Marsalis in the 1980s. He embodied the brightest promise of his jazz generation, both as a young steward of the hard bop tradition and a savvy bridge to both hip-hop and R&B. His assertive sound embodied a tone that could evoke either burnished steel or silk and satin. Here we have both.
The topmost video I’m Not So Sure, recorded in 2007 at the New Morning in Paris, features Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Justin Robinson on alto sax, Gerald Clayton playing piano, Danton Boller at the bass, and Montez Coleman on drums. It’s funky beat is guaranteed to treat your feet! Below that to the left, Top of My Head moves all your parts with some straight ahead bop and features Roy adding a bit of vocal. The performance was for a public radio gig … and along with Hargrove on trumpet and Robinson on alto, Tadataka Unno played piano, Ameen Saleem played bass, and Quincy Phillips was at the drums. Finally, at the lower right, silk and satin are served well as flugelhorn replaces trumpet and Chivas replaces cement in the very mellow What a Wonderful World, recorded by the quartet in 1999. Roy Hargrove takes up the flugel, Mulgrew Miller is on piano, Pierre Boussaguet plays bass, and Alvin Queen is at the drums.
