September 2025 Jazz Spotlight: Roy hargrove by Sebastian Cabrera

Over the Summer, I started to look for jazz musicians to expand my knowledge of music and explore potential influences. In my findings I discovered Roy Hargrove, a jazz Trumpet player who became a popular figure in the jazz community. He started to get some traction when he was in High School at Booker T. Washington, 1985.

During that time, he played for his school’s jazz band where he was lead and 1st chair trumpet. A couple of years later, around the 1990s, Hargrove released Diamond in the Rough, which became the album that pushed his growth in popularity. One of my favorite songs from this album is “All Over Again,” as it provides a jazzy funk feel with a mixture of Latin techniques. Although I like a fast Latin feel, many music lovers might not feel the same way. Hargrove’s albums contain a multitude of different styles and a uniqueness in each song. For example, “Easy to Remember”, is a slow-paced jazz song that emphasizes the piano, upright bass, and the trumpet. Hargrove’s musical abilities developed further over the course of his career. Between 1990 and 1999, there were 9 albums Hargrove created that involved many well-known musicians. These were heavy hitters of jazz, or to put it into perspective, the “BTS” of jazz at that time. Some include Antino Hart (saxophonist and close friend), Christian McBride (upright bass player), Herbie Hancock (pianist). Everybody loved him for his charismatic personality and his love of music. When I learned more of Hargrove's history, it became evident that he changed the social norms in jazz while becoming a prominent figure to many musicians. All he wanted to do was play his trumpet from midnight till 4:00 in the morning.

Unfortunately, in November 2018, Roy Hargrove passed away from a heart attack at the age of 49. After his death, a documentary was made about him. It contained all the people that personally knew him and the story of his life. In the documentary, pianist Robert Glasper noted,

“He Just wants to play. He always just wanted to play. So, he would go to any jam session. Doesn’t matter how good or bad the band is” (00:25:14).

Glasper explains the legacy of Roy Hargrove: A musician who loved music.