R B S

Remembering the great Roy Hargrove who was born on this day in 1969. An incandescent trumpeter who blazed a new path for his jazz generation, Hargrove bridged the worlds of hard bop, hip-hop, funk and neo-soul throughout his prolific career, serving as a role model for young trumpeters to find their own voices in his wake. 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. He also 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. Here, he is performing “Things To Come” with The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band live at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2007.