Roy Hargrove (1969-2018)

Roy Hargrove, a jazz trumpeter whose chance encounter with Wynton Marsalis in the 11th grade catapulted him from Fort Worth, Texas, to stardom at age 20 in 1990 after tours with Marsalis and a year at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, died November 2. He was 49.

Here are five clips that illustrate his measured tone and pretty taste:

Here's Hargrove soloing in 1988 on I Remember Clifford with Don Sickler (tp,arr), Frank “Ku-umba" Lacy (tb), Bobby Watson (as,arr), Billy Pierce (ts), Mulgrew Miller (p), Robert Hurst (b) and Kenny Washington (d)...



Here's Hargrove in 1990 on God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, with Antonio Hart (as), Stephen Scott (p), Christian McBride (b) and Billy Higgins (d)...



Here's a gorgeous rendition by Hargrove on flugelhorn of Neal Hefti's Repetition in 1995, with Stephen Scott (p) and Christian McBride (b)...



Here's Hargrove playing flugelhorn on Always and Forever in 1999, with Sherman Irby (as), Larry Willis (p,arr), Gerald Cannon (b), Willie Jones III (d), Gil Goldstein and Cedar Walton (arr), and the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra...



And here's Hargrove playing Mister Magic in 2001...