Roy Hargrove Trumpet October 16, 1969 --

Roy Hargrove

"He's a thoughful player, always phrasing. He doesn't go out for pyrotechnics even though he has the chops for that too."

--Bobby Watson

In 1987 Roy Hargrove won a $5000 scholarship at the Musicfest in Chicago, but despite his proficiency on the trumpet could not afford one of his own. One was soon supplied, courtesy of Doc Severinsen, and together with $4500 won from various Downbeat competitions he headed for Berklee College of Music on graduating from Arts Magnet High School in Dallas in 1988. By then he had traded solos with Wynton Marsalis and Freddie Hubbard in the Caravan of Dreams, Fort Worth, Texas and appeared in Europe with Frank Morgan. In 1988 he appeared on Bobby Watson's No Question About It (Blue Note).

In 1990 he debuted as a leader with Diamond in the Rough (Novus). Other album appearances included Superblue (Blue Note) and with David "Fathead" Newman. he also appeared with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Hancock, John Hicks and the student band No Corporate Rubbish that was acclaimed at the 1989 Musicfest finals.

A calm, unruffled player, Hargrove seemed to be developing a style that was not dependent on speed of execution or range, more an ordered, vertical lyricism.

--STUART NICHOLSON,
Jazz: The 1980s Resurgence, 1994.

A selected discography of Roy Hargrove albums.

• Diamond In The Rough, 1989, Novus.
• Public Eye, 1990, Novus.
• With the Tenors of Our Time, 1993, Verve.
• Parker's Mood, 1995, Verve.
• Habana, 1997, Verve.

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