Roy Anthony Hargrove was born on October 16, 1969, and passed away on November 2, 2018. He was an American jazz musician and composer who played the trumpet and flugelhorn as his main instruments. He received great praise from critics after winning two Grammy Awards for different styles of jazz in 1998 and 2002. Most of Hargrove's albums were in the hard bop style, but he also worked with musicians from other genres, such as hip-hop, neo soul, R&B, and alternative rock. Hargrove once said to a reporter, "I've been around all kinds of musicians, and if a musician can play well, they can play any style. Whether it's gospel, funk, R&B, jazz, or hip-hop, if the music sounds good to you, that's what matters."

Biography

Roy Hargrove was born in Waco, Texas, to Roy Allan Hargrove and Jacklyn Hargrove. When he was 9 years old, his family moved to Dallas, Texas. He first took music lessons on the cornet at school before switching to the trumpet. One of his most important early influences was a visit by saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman to his junior high school. Newman had played with Ray Charles’s band. Hargrove’s junior high music teacher, Dean Hill, whom Hargrove called his "musical father," taught him how to improvise and play solos. Hargrove was discovered by Wynton Marsalis when Marsalis visited Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas. Hargrove said trumpeter Freddie Hubbard had the greatest influence on his musical style.

Hargrove continued his music studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston but later transferred to The New School in New York. This move allowed him to visit jazz clubs in Greenwich Village and take part in jam sessions, especially at Bradley’s, where he played with many of his mentors and heroes. His first studio recording after moving to New York was with saxophonist Bobby Watson for Watson’s album No Question About It. Soon after, Hargrove recorded with the band Superblue, which included Watson, Mulgrew Miller, Frank Lacy, Don Sickler, and Kenny Washington.

Hargrove’s first album as a leader, Diamond in the Rough, was released in 1990 on the Novus/RCA label. This album and the next three recordings Hargrove made with his quintet for Novus were among the most successful jazz recordings of the early 1990s. These successes made Hargrove one of the most in-demand jazz musicians. His growing fame led to his first live national television performance in June 1992 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During this time, Hargrove won the "Rising Star–Trumpet" category in the DownBeat Critics Poll in 1991, 1992, and 1993. He became associated with the "Young Lions," a group of rising jazz musicians, including Marcus Roberts, Mark Whitfield, and Christian McBride. These musicians focused on bebop, hard bop, and Great American Songbook standards. Some of the "Young Lions," including Hargrove, formed Jazz Futures, which released one critically acclaimed album, Live in Concert.

As a side project, Hargrove led The Jazz Networks, an ensemble of American and Japanese musicians. Between 1992 and 1996, the group released five albums. These albums featured other notable jazz artists, including Antonio Hart, Rodney Whitaker, and Joshua Redman. The albums were originally released in Japan and Europe but were later made available on U.S. music streaming platforms after Hargrove’s death. During this time, Hargrove also participated in one-off ensemble recordings, including New York Stories with Danny Gatton and Bobby Watson and Pride of Lions with Philip Bailey, Billy Childs, and Tony Williams.

In 1994, Hargrove signed with Verve and recorded With the Tenors of Our Time, featuring Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Johnny Griffin, Joshua Redman, and Branford Marsalis. Soon after, he released his second Verve album, Family, which included his original song "Roy Allan," named after his father. This song became a popular jazz composition performed by others. In 1995, Hargrove experimented with a trio format on Parker's Mood, recorded with bassist Christian McBride and pianist Stephen Scott. The Penguin Guide to Jazz lists Parker's Mood as one of the "1001 Best Albums" in jazz history.

Also in 1995, Hargrove formed the Roy Hargrove Big Band to perform at the Panasonic Village Jazz Festival in New York. The band later recorded and performed worldwide, featuring big band arrangements of Hargrove’s own compositions and songs by respected contemporaries.

As Hargrove toured internationally, his popularity grew, especially in Europe, Japan, and Latin America. In 1997, the Dutch public television station Nederlandse Programma Stichting (now NTR) aired the documentary Jazzportret: Roy Hargrove, directed by Hans Hylkema, a respected filmmaker known for music documentaries. The film included selections from Hargrove’s live performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague in 1996 and interviews with Hargrove, his mother, managers, and his music teachers from Dallas.

In 1998, Hargrove won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album for Habana with Roy Hargrove’s Crisol, an ensemble of Cuban and American musicians that included Chucho Valdés, Russell Malone, Frank Lacy, Jose Luis "Changuito" Quintana, and Miguel "Angá" Díaz. That same year, Hargrove participated in an extended interview and performed duets with host Marian McPartland on her NPR program Piano Jazz. Hargrove discussed his Texas upbringing, his early fascination with his father’s cornet, and his thoughts on arranging music. The program also included a rare performance by Hargrove of his piano composition "Ballad for the Children."

Throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hargrove collaborated with the Soulquarians, a group 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 part of The Soultronics, a backing "supergroup" that included Questlove and Pino Palladino. That same year, Hargrove contributed horn performances to recordings by Common and Erykah Badu as part of the Soulquarians collective.

In 2000, Hargrove performed in Roz Nixon’s musical production Dedicated To Louis Armstrong as part of the Verizon Jazz Festival. He also released his first and only album backed by a string section, Moment to Moment, featuring the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra.

In 2001, Hargrove was selected as a resident artist by the Montreal International Jazz Festival. During the festival, he performed in five different ensembles: as leader of his own quintet, as leader of a "special trio" with Christian McBride and Russell Malone, as a sideman with Monty Alexander and his band, in a duet with McBride, and with the I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra, performing his album Moment to Moment.

In 2002, Hargrove won his second Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album for Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall with co-leaders Herbie Hancock and Michael Brecker. He was nominated for four other Grammy Awards during

Influence

Hargrove was well-liked by other musicians and fans during his career and even after he passed away. In 2019, one year after his death, he once again won the top spot in the trumpet category of the DownBeat Readers' Poll.

Besides his achievements on the trumpet, music critics praised Hargrove’s sound on the flugelhorn and his talent for playing ballads. The Chicago Tribune noted in 2010 that Hargrove’s ballad playing on the flugelhorn was especially moving. His ability to create beautiful, slow melodies and lyrical phrases was admired even after many years of playing.

Over his 30-year career, Hargrove wrote and recorded many original songs. Some of these, including "Strasbourg-St. Denis" and "Roy Allan," are considered to have become jazz standards.

Hargrove’s lasting influence on jazz is shown in a recent New York Times article about his legacy. In this article, 13 modern musicians share their favorite Hargrove compositions that had a lasting impact on them.

Personal life and death

Roy Hargrove was a quiet person who faced challenges with kidney failure and substance abuse throughout his life. He passed away at the age of 49 due to heart failure caused by kidney disease on November 2, 2018, while staying in a hospital in New Jersey. His long-time manager, Larry Clothier, stated that Hargrove had been receiving dialysis treatment for the final 14 years of his life.

Hargrove met his wife, Aida Brandes-Hargrove, in 2006 while working with jazz trombonist Slide Hampton. She was the daughter of one of Hampton’s close friends. In 2020, Aida Brandes-Hargrove and her daughter, Kamala Hargrove, launched the company Roy Hargrove Legacy LLC to keep his memory alive and continue his work. In 2022, the company re-formed the Roy Hargrove Big Band. This group performs live concerts with original band members and other musicians who supported Hargrove during his career.

Discography

• 1989–1990: Diamond in the Rough (Novus/RCA, 1990)
• 1991: Public Eye (Novus/RCA, 1991)
• 1992: The Vibe (Novus/RCA, 1992)
• 1993: Of Kindred Souls (Novus/RCA, 1993)
• 1993–1994: Approaching Standards (Novus/RCA/BMG, 1994) – a collection of songs from four previous albums
• 1994: The Roy Hargrove Quintet, With the Tenors of Our Time (Verve, 1994)
• 1995: Family (Verve, 1995)
• 1995: Parker's Mood with Christian McBride, Stephen Scott (Verve, 1995)
• 1997: Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Habana (Verve, 1997) – won a Grammy Award for Latin Jazz
• 1999: Roy Hargrove with Strings, Moment to Moment (Verve, 2000)
• 2001: Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall with Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker (Verve, 2002) – live recording; won a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in 2003
• 2003: The RH Factor, Hard Groove (Verve, 2003)
• 2004: The RH Factor, Strength EP (Verve, 2004) – includes songs from the 2003 album Hard Groove
• 2005: Nothing Serious (Verve, 2006) – a version of the album was released in 2005
• 2006: The RH Factor, Distractions (Verve, 2006)
• 2008: The Roy Hargrove Quintet, Earfood (EmArcy, 2008)
• 2009: The Roy Hargrove Big Band, Emergence (Universal/Emarcy, 2009)
• 2010: The Roy Hargrove Quintet, Live at the New Morning (Universal/Emarcy, 2010) – available only as a DVD

• In Harmony, live with Mulgrew Miller (Resonance, 2021) – recorded between 2006 and 2007
• The Love Suite: In Mahogany (Blue Engine Records, 2023) – recorded in 1993
• Roy Hargrove's Crisol, Grande-Terre (Verve, 2024) – recorded in April 1998
• Live at KNKX (Roy Hargrove Legacy, 2026) – EP; recorded in 2009 and 2017

• 1988: Superblue (Somethin' Else [JP]; Blue Note, 1988)

Manhattan Projects With Carl Allen, Donald Brown, Ira Coleman, and Kenny Garrett

• 1989: Dreamboat (Timeless, 1990)
• 1989: Piccadilly Square (Timeless, 1993)

Jazz Futures With Antonio Hart, Benny Green, Carl Allen, Christian McBride, Mark Whitfield, Marlon Jordan, and Tim Warfield

• 1991: Live in Concert (Novus [US], 1993)

• 1991: The Tokyo Sessions with Antonio Hart; also called Straight to the Standards (Novus/RCA/BMG, 1992)
• 1992: Beauty and the Beast (Novus [US]; Novus J/BMG Japan, 1993)
• 1993: Blues 'n Ballads (Novus J/BMG Japan, 1994)
• 1993–1994: The Other Day (Novus J/BMG Japan, 1996)
• 1994: In the Movies (Novus J/BMG Japan, 1995)

• 1994: Buckshot LeFonque (Columbia, 1994)