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United States Roy Hargrove was a Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter and composer, recognized for his contributions across jazz, hip hop, R&B, and soul, and for his influence on a new generation of musicians.
Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hargrove collaborated with the Soulquarians, a collective of experimental jazz, hip hop and soul artists that included Questlove, D'Angelo, J Dilla, and others. Hargrove added jazz and funk-influenced horns to D'Angelo's Grammy-winning album Voodoo and supported D'Angelo on tour as a member of the Soultronics. That same year, as part of the Soulquarians collective, Hargrove contributed horn performances for recordings by Common and Erykah Badu.
Gifted trumpet/flugelhorn player ROY HARGROVE has emerged as one of the most influential artists leading to the resurgence of acoustic jazz music.
Grammy-winning trumpet player Roy Hargrove ’89 studied at Berklee just as his career was taking off. Although best known for his jazz skills, he excels at any genre he touches, working with diverse artists such as Angelique Kidjo, D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, and John Mayer '98. Hargrove attended Berklee and then the New School in New York.
In 1994, Hargrove signed with Verve and recorded With the Tenors of Our Time. Soon afterwards, Hargrove released his second album for Verve, Family.
After signing with Universal/EmArcy in 2008, Hargrove released Earfood, a quintet recording "steeped in tradition and sophistication," which Jazziz selected as one of the 5 "essential albums" of that year. He followed in 2009 with "Emergence," an album recorded with the Roy Hargrove Big Band.
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of its performance, in October 2023, Jazz at Lincoln Center released a live recording of Hargrove's original composition "The Love Suite: In Mahogany,"
In July 2021, Hargrove's estate released posthumously via Resonance Records the double-album In Harmony, a live duet recording made in 2006 and 2007 with pianist Mulgrew Miller that returned Hargrove to the Top 5 of the Billboard jazz chart.
Worked with The 1975 on their albums I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It (2016), A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships (2018), and Notes on a Conditional Form (2020).
Collaborated with John Mayer on his album Continuum (2006).
Roy Anthony Hargrove was born on October 16, 1969, in Waco, Texas, and later moved to Dallas at age nine. He began playing the cornet and later the trumpet, with his junior high music teacher, Dean Hill, teaching him improvisation. A significant early influence was saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman. Hargrove’s talent was recognized by Wynton Marsalis during a visit to his high school, leading to early performances with jazz luminaries such as Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock. He attended Berklee College of Music and The New School in New York, immersing himself in the Greenwich Village jazz club scene where he participated in jam sessions and played with mentors. His initial studio recordings included work with Bobby Watson and the band Superblue.
Hargrove released his debut album as a leader, “Diamond in the Rough,” in 1990 under Novus/RCA. This marked the beginning of a series of commercially successful jazz recordings in the early 1990s. He became known as a “Young Lion,” a group of jazz musicians focused on bebop, hard bop, and Great American Songbook standards, and performed on national television on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in 1993. Throughout this period, Hargrove consistently topped the “Rising Star–Trumpet” category in the DownBeat Critics Poll from 1991 to 1993. He also led The Jazz Networks, an ensemble that released five albums in Japan and Europe between 1992 and 1996.
In 1994, Hargrove signed with Verve and released “With the Tenors of Our Time,” followed by “Family” and “Parker’s Mood” in 1995, with “Parker’s Mood” being recognized as a “1001 Best Album” in jazz history. He formed the Roy Hargrove Big Band in 1995. His international reputation grew, particularly in Europe, Japan, and Latin America. In 1998, he won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for “Habana” with Roy Hargrove’s Crisol. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hargrove collaborated extensively with the Soulquarians, contributing to D’Angelo’s “Voodoo” and recordings by Common and Erykah Badu. He won his second Grammy in 2002 for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for “Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall” with Herbie Hancock and Michael Brecker. From 2003 to 2006, he led The RH Factor, releasing three albums that fused jazz with soul, hip hop, and funk, with “Strength” receiving a Grammy nomination. His album “Earfood” (2008) with his quintet was named an “essential album” by Jazziz, and “Emergence” (2009) with the Big Band earned him a Grammy nomination for “Best Improvised Jazz Solo.”
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