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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZHARGROVE, Roy(b 16 October 1969, Waco TX; d 2 November 2018 in Manhattan of kidney disease) Trumpet, composer, leader. The family moved to Dallas when he was 9; at first he was interested in the clarinet, but there was a pawn shop cornet in the house so he learned to play that. Inspired by Clifford Brown, he was mentored by a band teacher, and word of his talent had already spread when Wynton Marsalis made a point of hearing him, leading to a trip to the North Sea Jazz Festival that summer, while he was still in high school. He attended Berklee in Boston for a year and moved to NYC at age 20, practically living at Bradley's in Greenwich Village, and couch-surfing. Within six months he had recorded Diamond In The Rough '90 for RCA/Novus, followed by Public Eye '91, The Vibe '92, Of Kindred Souls '93, Approaching Standards and The Tokyo Sessions (co-led with Antonio Hart) '94, showcases for fiery but lyrical playing in company with other young lions like alto saxist Hart, pianist Stephen Scott and bassist Christian McBride. He soon began paying back, co-founding the Jazz Gallery in 1995, still going today (Bradley's closed in 1996) and continuing to jam at Small's in the Village. Sonny Rollins named a tune 'Young Roy' after Hargrove. He played on McBride's debut album Gettin' To It '94 on Verve, and switched to that label himself: the Roy Hargrove Quintet made The Tenors Of Our Time '94 with guests Johnny Griffin, Stanley Turrentine, Joe Henderson, Branford Marsalis and Joshua Redman. (He led a quintet for most of his too-short career.) Hargrove's Family was a thank-you card, inviting friends and influences from McBride to Fathead Newman to take part; Parker's Mood '95 paid tribute to Bird, the trio co-led by McBride and Scott; Extended Family '97 was by a Roy Hargrove Big Band. Hargrove captivated his generation by being able and willing to share the spotlight with musicians from other genres, while never losing sight of the jazz tradition and continuing to learn from it. He appeared on records by the Soulquarians, a sort of workshop of hip-hop and soul artists, overdubbing on records such as Voodoo by D'Angelo, and Mama's Gun by Erykah Badu. Later he made three albums of electrified hip-hop with the large ensemble RH Factor; meanwhile Habana in 1997 was made with American and Cuban musicians working as Crisol. Habana won him his first Grammy; his second was for Directions in Music in 2002, with Herbie Hancock and Michael Brecker, which remained closer to the question of acoustic jazz innovation. While he never lost sight of the roots of his music, one of his later albums, called Earfood 2008 on Universal, inspited Nate Chinen at the New York Times to say, 'He rarely sounds as if he stepped out of a time machine.' His later albums were Emergence 2009 on Emarcy, and Live In Studio 2015 on Whaling City Sound. He had been on dialysis for 13 years, but his death at less than 50 years old still came as a shock. His was an unfinished career, like so many others in jazz. |