The RH Factor: Hard Groove

Roy Hargrove

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Verve
• ASIN: B000084T3J
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,763 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Most jazz-meets-hip-hop collaborations suffer from stiff beats plastered over abstract, high-minded solos. Not so with this collection from the '70s-bred, Texan-born trumpet wunderkind. Sure, he knows the musical language and lineages of Clifford Brown and Miles Davis. But he's also down with contemporaries like D'Angelo, Q-Tip, and homegirl Erykah Badu, who appear on this star-studded CD. Hargrove is backed by an in-the-pocket assemblage of jazz-honed phenoms featuring keyboardist Marc Cary, alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, and flautist Karl Denson. They all put their grooves where their guts are, and the music evokes tinges of Donald Byrd's back-in-the-day waxworks. D'Angelo's down-home delivery lights up Funkadelic's psychedelic slow drag, "I'll Stay," while ebullient Common kicks up the verbal virtuosity on "Common Free Style." The Q-Tip/Erykah Badu cut "Poetry" could be a summer anthem. Throughout this tasty and tasteful project Roy Hargroove's cool and clarion trumpet tones provide the right sonic seasoning for this dancing and delectable disc. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, eclectic album, June 13, 2003

By	souldrummer (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Enjoyable Find, April 21, 2005

By	Willie Hobbs "William Ashanti Hobbs" (the dirty-dirty) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hot Hard Groove, May 20, 2003

By	A. Leiber "margret_l" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!