Roy Hargrove

在当今的世界爵士乐坛，在各种Jam Session或者音乐家的比武台上，没有谁会像Roy Hargrove这样生猛。咄咄气势，技巧傲人，同时又兼具迷人松弛的舞台表现。
 
出生于德克萨斯州的Roy Hargrove，如今早已是纽约音乐界的焦点人物。21岁时，他就在知名的Novus唱片厂牌发行了首张专辑。在该厂牌下发行了4张成功的专辑后，Roy Hargrove转签老牌的爵士厂牌Verve，出版的专辑每张都是高水准之作。除了他最著名的五重奏外，Hargrove还带领一支大乐队，集结了许多纽约年轻有为的音乐家。
 
Roy Hargrove受邀参与了许多专辑的录制。其中不仅有同时代的音乐家，还包括爵士乐坛的不少前辈大师，如Oscar Peterson，Shirley Horn等。同时Roy Hargrove也受邀参加不少爵士名家的巡演，像Wynton Marsalis，Nicholas Payton和Jon Faddis等等。
 
小的时候，教堂的福音音乐和广播上滚动播放的R&B和Funk音乐，让还在读4年级的Roy Hargrove拿起了小号。16岁时，他开始在达拉斯享有盛誉的Booker T. Washington School for the Visual and Performing Arts学习音乐。还在念初中的他，当时的技巧就已经相当娴熟。
 
也是在这里学习的期间，Roy Hargrove被当时已声名显赫的Wynton Marsalis发现，后者当时正好在Hargrove的学校里讲学。Wynton Marsalis对Hargrove的才华颇为惊讶，并邀请Hargrove加入他自己的乐队。谁想，这次偶然的经历，让Roy Hargrove在之后的3个月时间里，不断有机会和像Dizzy Gillespie、Herbie Hancock、Freddie Hubbard、Bobby Hutcherson这样的顶级爵士音乐家合作。当时北海爵士音乐节的创始人Paul Ackett听到了人们对Hargrove的高度评价，就邀请他在那年夏天参加音乐节的演出。而音乐节之后，Roy Hargrove又进行了长达一个月的欧洲巡演。
 
可以说Roy Hargrove在Verve出的每张唱片都是对前一次的超越。同时，无数的音乐同行也为Hargrove的音乐才华倾倒，纷纷要请他同台演出或录制专辑，其中既有Sonny Rollins和Jackie McLean这样传奇式的爵士前辈，也有Natalie Cole，Diana Krall和Abbey Lincoln这样的个性独特的歌手；既有Diana Ross, Steve Tyrell, Kenny Rankin等流行乐队的风云人物，也有John Mayer, Rhian Benson等年轻一代的佼佼者。但最风光的，还是带着他自己的五重奏或RH Factor乐队，或者以独奏的形式，在全球各地的舞台上让成千上万的乐迷为他的音乐所倾倒。
 
No musician on today's scene has kept alive the spirit of the afterhours jam session and the cutting contest as vigorously as Roy Hargrove. An aggressive, brilliant trumpeter, with a charming, relaxed stage manner - and even an easy style of singing when the mood takes him - Hargrove is always ready to play.
 
Born in Texas and now a feature of the New York scene, he made his major label debut at 21 for Novus. He made several more discs for that label until 1993, and has subsequently produced a string of high-quality albums for Verve. As well as fronting a regular quintet he also leads a big band packed with the cream of New York's younger talent.
 
He has been in demand as a guest on dozens of discs, from elder statesmen of the music such as Oscar Peterson and Shirley Horn to his own contemporaries. He has also fronted the exciting Cuban-American big band Crisol on disc and on tour, and toured in a trumpet summit with Wynton Marsalis, Nicholas Payton and Jon Faddis.
 
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.
 
Every album Roy has released on Verve has been different from the one preceding it. And the same can be said of the array of talents who have invited him to grace the stage and/or their recordings - from jazz legends Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean to song stylists Natalie Cole, Diana Krall and Abbey Lincoln. From pop veterans Diana Ross, Steve Tyrell and Kenny Rankin to younger stars John Mayer and Rhian Benson to the crème de la crème of jazz divas: Carmen McRae and the late, great Shirley Horn. Hargrove was also commissioned by the Lincoln Jazz Center to compose the piece “The Love Suite: In Mahogany,” which was performed in 1993. He is also a superstar of the international touring scene with his quintet, RH Factor and as a soloist.
 
ROY HARGROVE QUINTET:
Roy Hargrove: trumpet
Justin Robinson: saxophone
Montez Coleman: drums
Sullivan Fortner: piano
Ameen Saleem: bass
 
Useful links:
http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/royhargrove
http://www.myspace.com/RoyHargrove
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=7412