Jazz Police - Roy Hargrove Quintet Returns to the Dakota, January 24-25

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Friday, 19 March 2010

Roy Hargrove Quintet Returns to the Dakota, January 24-25

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor

Sunday, 17 January 2010

Justin Robinson and Roy Hargrove © Andrea Canter

“There’s a physical electricity to Hargrove’s performance that is not terribly common in jazz.” –David Adler

After Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove is probably the best known trumpeter on the planet today. Just 40, his output as a recording artist (14 sessions as leader) is almost as remarkable as his chops. His fusiony project, RH Factor, created a lot of buzz by merging R&B and hip-hop mainstream with jazz, but his past and current efforts are decidedly more Dizzy than Ice-T. NPR recently stated that "when he's on the road touring with his quintet, he's treating audiences to some of the greatest, hardest-swinging bebop in the world." And as noted by Christopher Jones following a Hargrove Quintet performance at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in Seattle, this is “straightforward, no-nonsense modern jazz…with integrity and conviction.” Hargrove brings that conviction – along with his quintet—to the Dakota in Minneapolis for a return engagement January 24-25. Their most recent gig here last June was one of the hottest shows of the year. And we seem to say that after every Hargrove appearance!

Roy Hargrove©Andrea Canter

Inspired by gospel, R&B and funk while growing up in Waco, Texas, Hargrove was a trumpet prodigy, already working with Frank Morgan and “discovered” by Wynton Marsalis before he finished high school at the Booker T. Washington School for the Performing Arts in Dallas. Later he dropped his studies at Berklee in Boston to move to New York, enroll at the New School, and concentrate on his career as leader, sideman and major label recording artist. In addition to the funky RH Factor, he has explored Afro Cuban rhythms, pop, and above all, eclectic, straight ahead jazz, in the highly acclaimed company of Herbie Hancock and Michael Brecker and the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, as well as with his own Quintet.The Roy Hargrove Quintet released Nothing Serious on Verve in 2006 and the aptlyl titled Ear Food in 2008. In 2009, Roy gathered a big band for the highly praised Emergence (Groovin High).

The quintet he brings to the Dakota includes Justin Robinson (reeds), Jonathan Batiste(piano), Ameen Saleem (bass) and Montez Coleman (drums), a high energy, interactive, soulful collaboration: Alto saxophonist Justin Robinson is a native of Manhattan and graduate of LaGuardia High School of Music and Arts. Influenced by Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean, he has worked the Harper Brothers, Cecil Brooks III, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Ross, Jimmy Scott, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and The Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, in addition to the Roy Hargrove Big Band Quintet.

Montez Coleman©Andrea Canter

Pianist Jonathan Batiste comes from a long line of famed Louisiana musicians, including the Batiste Brothers Band for which he played percussion at age 8. He switched to piano a few years later, and by 17 released his first recording as leader with Jason Marsalis, Donald Harrison and Christian Scott. After graduating from t he New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, he moved on to studies at Juilliard, and debuted at Carnegie Hall in 2005. Batiste has played with Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Lenny Kravitz, Harry Connick, Jr., Cassandar Willson, Jimmy Buffet and Abbey Lincoln, and can be heard on melodica as well as piano. Bassist Ameen Saleem is originally from Washington DC where he attended the Ellington School of the arts. He went on to earn degrees in music performance from North Carolina Central University and CUNY Queens College in New York.Described as an “imaginative and versatile musician” by Mike Neely (All About Jazz), drummer Montez Coleman propels the quintet. A native of East St. Louis, Coleman’s other associations include Peter Martin, Wynton Marsalis, Rufus Reid, Russell Gunn, and Erin Bode.

Hargrove is one of the all-too-rare jazz artists of his generation who never fails to deliver the goods at full throttle, regardless of the audience or venue. His current quintet embodies all of the elements that make live jazz live and irreplaceable regardless of technology—they play in the moment, and each moment as if it was the only moment in time. This IS something serious! Catch their "earfood" at the Dakota on January 24-25!

The Dakota is located at 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. Two sets per night at 7 and 9:30 pm; www.dakotacooks.com