Customer Reviews

Hard Groove

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an album that reveals as much about the perspective of the listener as about the music itself. Are you coming at this from a pure jazz perspective? There isn't too much straight ahead stuff on this album and you may be with the critics that bashed Roy for making something more accessible than typical jazz fare. Hoping for a jazz-hip-hop hybrid? To me this is one of the more successful combinations because Roy toured with the soulquarians and has immersed himself for the past few years in this music. He's willing to be lyrical when the time comes. I especially enjoy the track "How I Know" for example. I don't know what neo-soul fans are going to make of this and I'm curious to see how the album does saleswise. I dig the Erykah Badu/Q-Tip combination [some of Q-Tip's better recent work] "Poetry". Always happy to see a D'Angelo sighting and I'm hoping he comes out with a new solo project soon. Common's stuff is off the cuff and Ray's solo makes that track. One thing that grew on me was the production. Several tracks have Roy's trumpet electronically doctored and I feel that it works for the most part.

This album is a fun neo-soul/jazz fusion that is worth a good listen. Went into heavy rotation on my walkman for a couple of weeks once I got it. Not earth shattering, but definitely worth the purchase.

Yes, I fell in love with "Hard Groove". It is the best attempt of a Jazz musician ever to fuse Jazz with Hip-Hop, Soul & R&B - and time for it to appear after years of disappointing efforts (sorry, Branford Marsalis, Don Byron). "Hard Groove" lightfootedly manages to bridge the gap in a firework display of Hardbop and Funk elements, with reference to the soundtracks of Blaxploitation films and to Hip-Hop, with wonderful Soul and R&B ballads, perfectly timed and elegantly arranged.
The rappers Common and Q-Tip, Erykah Badu and D'Angelo as well as internationally acclaimed Jazz musicians Meshell Ndegeocello, Pino Palladino, Cornell Dupree and Steve Coleman make the CD a strong statement of cooperation. In addition, "Hard Groove" gives room to Hargrove as a brilliant, extremely versatile soloist and as a remarkable composer. Roy, that CD is almost perfect and a gift. Love to you!

I first heard this album in Bahia Brazil and everybody was vibing it. It was magic. A pure connect! Big up's to Mr. Hargrove for pulling this/us together/up. A few years ago, I checked out Roy, Marc Cary, Steve Coleman, Jacques Schwarz-Bart and Daniel Moreno at an underground party in NY where they use to jam and it was on fire. His RH Factor is so hot its smoke is definitely sanctified!
Peace

Hip Hop has always been connected to Jazz, weather it was Tribe back in the early nineties, Madlib today or any other producer you can think of chances are they have used some Jazz at some point in their career. Well with this album you get a traditional Jazz trumpeter composing and arranging a straight up Jazz album with a taste of that Hip Hop spirit. Weather it's the "Common Freestyle" or Q-Tip on "Poetry" this Jazz album has just the right amount of Hip Hop to please B-Boys along with the real Jazz fans. Those are just the two tracks with emcees on them. Several other tracks stand out with some great singers performing. The epic "I'll Stay" makes you wonder where D'Angelo has been and on "Forget Regret" Stephanie McKay makes you want to find her solo CD and hope that the RH Factor backs it. This album is an impressive mix of Jazz with Hip Hop and if you are a Hip Hop head looking for an introduction to Jazz then this is the album for you. If you are a Jazz fan that has always been disgusted with Hip Hop's connection with Jazz hopefully this will show you what its all about: Good Music.

Why are we always trying to label music...jazz-hiphopneobluessoulneo whatever...this album blew the hell out of my heart, chest, balls and soul, lord knows how long I've waited for such a deep experience and relationship with music, chills in my back when listening to "I'll stay", the Common joint make me wanna tear the roof off my car and transform it into a convertible, not to mention the rest of the album. Roy Hargrove, I have his first and his last album, evolution of a slick and fine artist.

Should there be a time in the near future that you'd find yourself at my crib for a laid back get-together, where there is a steady buzz of convo, and everybody has settled into their positions of bartender, jokester, flirt, comedian. . .
A jazzy CD will be sparkling in the background, making the whole damn thang seem more sophisticated than it really is.

It's owner is playing it halfway to see if you're too caught in the matrix of work, sleep and bowel movements to recognize any of it. The other reason would be, simply, that Roy Hargrove's RH Factor is the mid-twenty to thirty-something's legit entrée into soulful jazz, so those for a taste of the melodic diaherrea that is Kenny G or that Bath & Bodyworks talcum-powder jazz from Yanni need not apply. Roy ain't havin' it, and I ain't either. Jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove has been a sideman for the likes of Erykah Badu and D'angelo. On the solo tip, he's amassed a solid series of albums that do justice to everything from traditional and contemporary jazz to Latin rhythms. As with the other previous outings, the R to the H flexes his connections with more all-star collabos than an over-produced rapper that can't come up with enough flow or material to do an album on their own two. Ah, but Hargrove does the combos justice, rarely missing.

"Hardgroove" is the ideal intro cut to reacquaint you to live instrumentation. It has the suave atmosphere of urban sophistication throughout. It along with "The Joint" eventually loosens its tie and kicks up the heat. This will be the point that you'll pause your conversation with whomever to try and catch everywhere the groove is going.

Another stepper is the boppy and playful "Pastor T." It's reminiscent of the Paisley Park jazz group Madhouse sans the ersatz moans and sensual whispers. Keith Anderson's saxophone solo makes a home out of the ebullient mood.

The funk is so deep on the mellow P-funk inspired "I'll Stay" that you will check your armpits after each verse. D'Angelo is channeling Al Green on the vocals, getting' his milk-mouth mumble on somethin' lovely and actin' a damn fool on the Wurlitzer. I'm tellin' you, you'll want to get a black leather trenchcoat and walk in the rain with a cigarette in the middle of the night with this one. "Kwah/Home" sets Michelle Ndegeocello to bumpin' it easy on bass while Anthony Hamilton lays on catfish-and-grits- flavored vocals of soul, mustard and hot sauce included.

Poetry, featuring Q-Tip sounds like something the Tribe Called Quest would have eventually done with its loungy-red velvet sofa feel. Just before your mind falls back completely into the calming fabric of the jam, the melody changes into a melancholy, almost Charlie Brown-Peanuts-like melody with Erykah Badu crooning of the pain we all experience in trying "the way to go."

There are weak spots though, such as the uninspired, absent-minded-sounding rap of FAMU's own Common on "Common Free Style." We gotta support our own, but dude sounded like he was trying to rap with a migraine and a flashlight shining dead in his eyes. "Forget Regret" takes the subdued vibe Common leaves and strikes a nerve with Bobby Sparks' squirrely B3 organ and the confident vocal silk of newcomer Stephanie McKay. "How I Know" comes in as a close second in this regard. The unhurried, slow-drag-friendly "Liquid Streets" soothes with a piano part by James Poyser reminiscent of Pieces of a Dream. Hargrove also shines with his trumpet work here as well. All in all, a fine musician, and album, to grow the hell up and be stylish to.

http://tallahasseeblackpages.com/musicreviewarchive.php

Roy Hargrove's CDs are always great, and this one continues the tradition, adding a danceability and soul to the proceedings. Imagine Miles and Al Green working together, and you pretty much have the feel of this album. It is romantic, seductive, fun in ways that almost no other cross-fertilization like this has ever been. I'm amzed that a good dozen or so years after Miles' death, people are finally catching on to what he did all those years ago.
Roy Hargrove is his own man entirely, but shares Miles' spirit to go for what interests him first. In this CD, he presents music he feels recalls the stuff he listened to growing up, and there is a joyous danceability to the whole disc. The recording process was similar to Miles approach: everyone in the studio and let's roll the tape. The results are terrific. Meshell Ndegeocello, Steve Coleman, Erykah Badu and QTip are just some of the collaborators.
Be it the slow soul of "Ill Stay" or Badu's remarkable "Poetry", the lyric end of the disc is both reminiscent and foreward-looking. Through it all the music carries you along in a delicious state of intoxicating rhythms.
"Forget Regret" is a complete triumph, "Hardgroove" picks up right where Miles laid the trumpet down in '75, "How I know" is equal parts Parliament, Marvin, Rev Green. You'll have a great time with this disc. Absolutely brilliant, start to finish.

I'm one of the older generation that will just never be interested in rap or hip-hop in their pure forms. But I do enjoy some artists who mix hip-hop with other music genre's, like Erakyu Badu and Jill Scott. I've also enjoyed Branford Marsalis' and Courtney Pine's albums mixing jazz with Hip-Hop. I love Roy Hargrove the jazz trumpeter. Roy's new album does a decent job of mixing hip-hop with some jazz flavorings. This is hip-hop seasoned with jazz (like Branford does it) rather than jazz seasoned with hip-hop (like Courtney Pine does it). A nice easy going album, no offensive lyrics. I think I'll like this the more I play it..like I did with Branford's Buckshot Lefonque albums. Kudos to Roy Hargrove for stretching and trying something new. For you hip-hop fans ready for more of Roy, check out Crisol and Tenors of our Times.

In my book, Wallace Roney had top honors as the jazz trumpeter that crossed the line and stretched the boundaries... able to meld jazz & funk & studio technology creatively and successfully (check out "No Room For Argument")... Now Roy's leaped ahead with the infusion of Hip-hop and vocals... And the experimental over-dubbs on trumpet sound like he brought his hard-drive to the studio after laying down some tracks at home in Sonar... But! if you like your jazz straight, you ain't gonna appreciate this... Now if your jazz sensibilities are eclectic by design or you enjoy refined FUNK and Hip-Hop, or you grew up in DC during the 70's this release will take you there... It's also a refreshing departure from the Hammond B-3 trio (no horns) groove-thing that boogies off the Soul-Jazz flavor. Don't get me wrong, Soulive is groovin real nice, but Roy's in the lead now...

Roy Hargroove has been one of my favorite jazz artists for some time, so it goes without saying that I enjoy his music. I eagerly awaited this project and wasn't at all dissappointed. This cd is smokin'. It's not uncommon for multiple guests projects to sound scrambled and disjointed. Fortunately, Hargroove avoided this plight and created a collection of grooves that are funky and soul stirring. While all of the guests gave great performances, my personal favorties are Common Free Style, Forget Regret, Liquid Streets, How I Know, Juicy, and The Stroke. Thanks Roy for showing that jazz doesn't have to be stuffy to be great. Looking forward to the next one.