IN STORES MAY 20th. Come back here for music, video and more!

Roy Hargrove is a GRAMMY-award winning recording artist whose first disc as a jazz leader was released in 1990. Considered by many to be one of the premiere trumpet players on the music scene today, has long had a fascination for, and love of, R&B, Funk, and classic Soul music. Hard Groove is the realization of a musical dream come true. The RH Factor is the identity that composer/arranger Hargrove has coined for the musical collective he's assembled for Hard Groove. Like a 21st Century Quincy Jones, the trumpeter has brought together a diverse array of musicians from his recent collaborative efforts to create an organic musical street party at the corner of hip-hop and bop, encompassing many of his musical passions-the slow-grinding soul of Funkadelic's "I'll Stay" with a sultry vocal by D'Angelo; Common's free-styled rap intro on the aptly titled "Common Free Style"; both Q-Tip and Erykah Badu bringing their distinctive hip-hop and R&B sounds to the party-like funk of "Poetry".

On the vocal side, Hard Groove also contains stellar performances by D'Angelo background vocalists Anthony Hamilton ("Kwah" / "Home") and Shelby Johnson ("How I Know"); a fine turn by Stephanie McKay ("Forget Regret"); and former Motown recording artist Renee Neufville ("Juicy").

Hard Groove speaks of yesterday, sounds like today, and looks like the future! Roy himself says it best in his liner notes: This recording is something I've wanted to do for quite some time. The music is a representation of what can happen when people looking in the same direction get together, with dedication, focus, and positive spiritual energy.


Tracklisting:

1. Hardgroove
2. Common Free Style
3. I'll Stay
4. Interlude
5. Pastor "T"
6. Poetry
7. The Joint
8. Forget Regret
9. Out Of Town
10. Liquid Streets
11. Kwah/Home
12. How I Know
13. Juicy
14. Stroke


Personnel :


The RH Factor
Roy Hargrove Trumpet, Arranger, Flugelhorn, Background Vocals, Keyboards, Percussion, Producer, Piano, Bass
Erykah Badu (6) Vocal
Common (2) Vocal
D'Angelo (3) Vocal, Wurlitzer, Background Vocals
Anthony Hamilton (11) Vocal
Shelby Johnson (12) Vocal
Stephanie McKay (8) Vocal
Meshell Ndegeocello (6, 11) Bass
Renee Neufville (13) Vocal
Q-Tip (6) Vocal
Pino Palladino (1, 3, 5, 7-8, 12) Bass
Russell Elevado Co-Producer, Engineer
Larry Clothier Executive Producer
Jason Olaine Co-Producer
Steve Mandel Engineer
Steef Van de Gevel Engineer
Keith Anderson (1, 3, 5-6, 9, 13) Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Jacques Schwarz-Bart (1-3, 6, 8-11, 13, 14) Soprano Saxophone, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Tenor Saxophone
Bernard Wright (1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12-14) Piano, Arp, B-3 Organ, Keyboards, Background Vocals
Bobby Sparks (1, 5, 7-8, 12) Clavinet, B-3 Organ, Arp, Rhodes
Chalmers Alford (1, 3, 5, 7-8, 12) Guitar
Cornell Dupree (1, 10) Guitar
Reggie Washington (1-2, 4-5, 9-11, 13) Acoustic Bass, Bass
Jason Thomas (1, 3, 5, 7-8, 12) Background Vocals, Drums
Daniel Moreno (1, 7, 13) Percussion
James Poyser (2, 10, 13) Rhodes, Keyboards, Background Vocals, Piano
Willie Jones III (2, 4, 9-11, 13, 14) Drums
Dontae Winslow (2, 14) Background Vocals, Drum Machine
Maurice Brown (2, 9) Background Vocals, Trumpet
G. Craig Glanville (2, 7, 8) Background Vocals, Drums, Drum Machine
Marc Cary (6, 11) Wurlitzer
Gene Lake (6, 11) Drums
Steve Coleman (9) Alto Saxophone
Keith Loftis (9) Tenor Saxophone
Karl Denson (13) Flute
Tony Suggs (14) B-3 Organ
John Lee (14) Bass

hey, i noticed this too a while back. roy hargrove's site at www.vervemusicgroup.com has a preview of the album; you can listen to the entire album on your windows mediaplayer or real audioplayer. but it hasn't worked for me so far. how about you?? love to finally hear that shit..

purpleone said:

No, but I did receive a promotional sampler of the LP and I can tell you that this entire LP is going to be nice. If marketed right it could extend his sales beyond the jazz niche. "Poetry" is hot.

I Can't wait.I ahve always dug Hargrove.I have some of Discs including His Japan Set He did about a Decade ago.Cats like Roy Hargrove&Russell Gunn always get my attention with whatever Project they are working on.

chickengrease said:

i agree. heard that one too.