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The Roy Hargove Quintet Goes to Hollywood |
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Written by Ronaldo Oregano
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Tuesday, 05 September 2006 |
 Roy Hargrove © Ian Gittler
Roy Hargrove was born in Waco, TX on October 16, 1969. Inspired by the
gospel music he heard in church on Sundays and the R&B and funk
music that played on the radio, Roy began learning the trumpet in the
fourth grade. By junior high school, he was playing at an advanced
level of proficiency. At 16, he was studying music at Dallas's
prestigious Booker T. Washington School for the Visual and Performing
Arts.
Midway through his junior year, Roy was "discovered" by Wynton
Marsalis, who was conducting a jazz clinic at the school. Impressed,
Marsalis invited Roy to sit in with his band at Ft. Worth's Caravan of
Dreams Performing Arts Center. Subsequently, Hargrove was able to
return to the venue over a period of the next three months, sitting in
with Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard and Bobby
Hutcherson. Word of Roy’s talent reached Paul Ackett, founder and
Director of The North Sea Jazz Festival who arranged for him to perform
there that summer. This lead to a month long European Tour.
Hargrove spent one year (1988-1989) studying at Boston's Berklee College
of Music, but could more often be found in NYC jam sessions, which
resulted in his transferring to New York’s New School. His first
recording in NYC was with the saxophonist Bobby Watson followed shortly
by a session with the up-and-comers super group, Superblue featuring
Watson, Mulgrew Miller and Kenny Washington. In 1990, he
released his solo debut, Diamond in the Rough, on the Novus/RCA label,
for which he would record a total of four albums that document his
incubational growth as a “young lion” to watch. Hargrove made his Verve
Records debut in 1994 on With the Tenors of Our Time, showcasing him
with stellar sax men Joe Henderson, Stanley Turrentine, Johnny Griffin,
Joshua Redman and Branford Marsalis.
The Roy Hargrove Quintet features Willie
Jones III on Drums. Born in Los Angeles, CA on June 8, 1968,
Willie Jones III's working diligently with acclaimed drummers and
music instructors, and began performing with distinguished musicians by
the time he was in his teens. Jones completed his academic training
after receiving a full scholarship to the California Institute of the
Arts, where he studied under the tutelage of the legendary Albert
"Tootie" Heath.
Before he was a semifinalist in the 1992 Thelonious Monk Jazz Drum
Competition, Jones co-founded Black Note, one of the most promising
jazz bands around. Following the rich soulful energy of the West Coast
bop movement, Black Note's hard-swing sound propelled them to First
Place in the 1991 prestigious John Coltrane Young Artist Competition.
Jones contributed his skillfulness as both musician and producer on all
four Black Note recordings entitled 43rd & Degnan and L.A.
Underground (World Stage Records), Jungle Music (Columbia), and Nothin'
But the Swing (Impulse!). By 1994, the band toured Europe and across
the U.S., and was the opening act for Wynton Marsalis. Jones has since
worked with distinctive musicians such as Ernestine Anderson, Bobby
Hutcherson, Wynton Marsalis, Cedar Walton, Billy Childs, Eric Reed,
Ryan Kisor, Eric Alexander, Bill Charlap, Michael Brecker and Herbie
Hancock. From 1998-2005, Jones was a member of and toured with the
prominent Roy Hargrove's Quintet, and can be heard on Hargrove's latest
album release Nothing Serious and RH Factor's Distractions.
Roy Hargrove's Quintet performs at Catalina's Jazz Club in Hollywood, September
6th-10th.
The Catalia Jazz Club is located at
6725 West Sunset Blvd.,
Hollywood California 90028,
Phone: (323) 466-2210,
(one block EAST of Highland Ave.). |
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 Tuesday, 02 December 2008
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