Time Traveler Recordings releases Bern, a previously unissued Roy Hargrove date, showcasing the then 30-year-old trumpeter at the height of his powers. Produced by Zev Feldman and James Batsford, the invaluable recording is being released in partnership with the Roy Hargrove Estate, with the late jazz master’s widow, Aida Brandes-Hargrove, serving as Executive Producer. The deluxe 180-gram, limited-edition LP was recorded on May 4, 2000 at theInternational Jazzfestival Bern, mastered by Matthew Lutthans and pressed at Optimal Media in Germany. With extensive liner notes by jazz journalist/author Nate Chinen, the album is being released on LP for Record Store Day, April 18, 2026 with CD and digital download versions to follow on April 24.
For Aida Brandes-Hargrove, this album represents a moment in time when Roy Hargrove was at the top of his game. As she writes in the album’s notes, “Roy is so in his element, and the group’s chemistry is through the roof. The recording captures this quintet at its most dynamic and inventive, and I’m thrilled this moment is being preserved; it’s a true snapshot of what made Roy’s live performances so electrifying and mesmerizing. Everyone needs to hear it.”
On this splendid recording, Hargrove fronts a quicksilver quintet featuring pianist Larry Willis, drummer Willie Jones, III, bassist Gerald Cannon and alto saxophonist (and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member) Sherman Irby. As Nate Chinen writes in his liner notes, “[Hargrove] was 30, precisely a decade into his strikingly successful career as a recording artist and shining herald for a jazz generation. And as the music on this knockout concert recording confirms, he was pushing himself to ever-greater heights, like an elite Alpinist daring to chase a new peak.”
