"Rhythm and melody! Everybody understands that. There is always that phrase that sticks in your head. Or that beat that makes you dance." - Roy Hargrove
“...Every note you play is important! No filler. Respect the rhythm section. If you can't say it in two or three choruses...keep it in the case.”
Higher learning:
By Roy Hargrove
Composing
"I was told by an elder: Composing is important. This is how you find your identity in music." - Roy Hargrove
Playlist IV
Clifford Jordan - Mosaic
Kenny Dorham - Live at the Cafe Bohemia
Eric Dolphy - Out to lunch!
Art Blakey - Soul finger
Duke Pearson - Honeybuns
Words of wisdom
"If it’s not swinging then what’s the point?"
Ministry
"Music is a kind of ministry. It has the power to uplift. In the right circumstances, we are vessels that give unconditional blessing to those listening. We must use this gift carefully, wisely." - Roy Hargrove
Words of wisdom (BBC interview)
Playlist III
Shirley Horn - Travelin light
Nat King Cole - Live at the Sands
Dexter Gordon - Biting the Apple
Dizzy Gillespie - The Champ
Miles Davis - Bags groove
Playlist II
Horace Silver - the Jody grind
Wayne Shorter - the all seeing eye
Sonny Clark - leapin and lopin
Clifford Brown - three giants (plus 4)
Shirley Horn - here's to life
- Roy Hargrove
Playlist I
Young musicians: Get these records
Wayne Shorter "The Soothsayer"
Freddie Hubbard "The hub of Hubbard"
John Coltrane "Ballads"
Ahmad Jamal "Live at the Pershing"
Donald Byrd "Fuego"
- Roy Hargrove
Bird
"Bird is essential. The fabric of this music deals with harmonic integrity. Trying to be an improviser without knowing Bird is like writing a novel with no vocabulary." - Roy Hargrove