Earfood – Roy Hargrove

Revisiting Ear Food

0:00He was like the brand ambassador between jazz, hip-hop, neo-soul, like he's the cross-pollinator, right? Yeah.

0:09Time to revisit one of the all-time classics of the 21st century, Roy Hargrove's 2008 masterpiece, Ear Food. Yes. This is, I think, one of the greatest entry point jazz albums for people that are jazz curious. So now that I've piano-splained it, let's listen to it again.

0:30I'm Adam Ennis. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear It podcast. Music Explored. Explored, brought to you today by Open Studio. Go to opensudiojazz.com for all your jazz lesson needs, Peter. It's good to be back in the saddles. Oh, buddy. And it's a good one today, because this is one of our favorite albums. In fact, we did this album a long, long time ago, before the show is what it is now, and we thought it was time to revisit one of the all-time classics of the 21st century,

1:01and that is Roy Hargrove's 2008 masterpiece, Ear Food. You know, I'm excited about this, because you love this record. I love this record. We have a lot of personal connection and love for this. But I'm also excited, because I think there's going to be quite a few of our dear listeners that are not super familiar with this record. I was wondering about that. Yeah. You think this is under the radar at this point? I mean, in terms of, like, if you came to us for D'Angelo or for Michael Jackson, and you're jazz curious, you might be a little intimidated, because you're like, I've got to go back to Louis Armstrong and then Miles Davis and all.

1:33It's like, no, this is, I think, one of the greatest entry point jazz albums for people that are jazz curious, or just great improvisatory music, black American music, especially something that's relatively recent. I always think about this as a recent record. It's actually 18 years old. Well, I mean, if you came to the show via D'Angelo, you're going to be very happy, because Roy Hargrove is the trumpeter on those famous D'Angelo records, Voodoo and Black Messiah. And a huge creative force on two of D'Angelo's three records. Yeah, a member of the Soulquariums.

2:05He also was on Erykah Badu's albums, Common's albums. So let's do a little bit of a deep dive. Before we get into ear food, just a little bit of catch-up of where this finds Roy in his career. Because this is one of the last albums he made.

Roy Hargrove in Dallas

2:19Are we going to have a little bit of a mustard, too? A little relish, a little mustard, a little ketchup. So Roy Hargrove was born in Waco, Texas in 1969. He was raised in Dallas, and he was discovered by Wynton Marsalis in high school. Yes. At the same time you were. And I know you've told this story before, but a little recap of how that works. Wynton, the early internet. Wynton discovering Roy was a much more exciting prospect all around than discovering me because, I mean, mainly just because he's an incredible trumpeter, discovering a young trumpeter, kind of the handing of the torch, which was very much. But Wynton was just like discovering and connecting a number of high school jazz,

2:55wannabe jazz players during that time in a pre-internet, pre-social media time in such an interesting way because it was literally just Wynton being like, here's my phone number, keep in touch if you have any questions. But then he would connect several of us. So I remember talking to Wynton, and I met him right around the same time, and I said, oh, my band is doing, we're going to this thing in Dallas. It was like the NAJE convention. And he's like, oh, you got to look up this trumpet player, Roy Hargrove. I was like, wait, what's his name? He's like, Roy Hargrove. I'm like, I literally wrote his name down.

3:26And at the time it wasn't like, give me his email address or phone number. It was like, I'll find him in Dallas. Let's do it, you know. And I did. Walk into the ballroom, Roy Hargrove. Yeah, but I mean, Wynton, among the many wonderful things he's done to prop up and propagate this music and promote the three Ps. I don't know why I said that. He's just coined it right now. Prop up, propagate, promote. Yeah, to populate the music. Prognosticate. I mean, he was a connector. He was the internet of the 80s, which is interesting

3:57because Wynton's a little bit of a Luddite. Got his first smartphone about six months ago, I believe. But no, so he connects. So when I went down to Dallas when I was in, I don't know, I was, I think, a sophomore in high school, I went and found, he was playing with his high school band, which was a really legendary place, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts out of Dallas. Yeah, legendary high school. Erykah Badu was a year behind him. And actually, Erykah Badu talks about just looking up to Roy as like a musical inspiration when she was young. Nora Jones also went to that same high school.

4:27That's right. Well, let's get into- No, that was Houston. Same state. Pretty far away. Kendrick Scott. Nope. Houston.

Early Career and Recordings

4:34Let's get into some of the early recordings of Roy Hargrove. So his first album, Diamond in the Rough, this is BHG. This features Roy on trumpet, Open Studio's own Jeffrey Keiser. Jeffrey Keiser on piano. Charles Fambro on bass, Ralph Peterson on drums, and Ralph Moore on tenor saxophone. Uh, 1990, Roy on the trumpet, Jeffrey Keiser on the piano, Charles Fambro on bass, Ralph Peterson on drums, Ralph Moore on saxophone. Ooh, Ralph Peterson, come on.

5:04This is, this either sounds like a Bobby Watson or very influent. Well, he was playing with Bobby Watson around this time. Bobby Watson, we haven't spoken his name enough on the phone. Uh. Woo. Man, Ralph Peterson. Yeah, and I think, I think Roy and Jeffrey Keiser were roommates in college around this time, or maybe just before. I know Roy was at Berklee. Yeah, I think it was Berklee. Uh, so that's from Diamond in the Rough. That's Roy's first album as a leader. RCA Novus. Uh, next, let's check in with Roy a couple years later, 1994.

5:36Uh, this is a great album called Tenors of Our Time, which featured a bunch of amazing tenor saxophonists. Stanley Turntine. That's right. Johnny Griffin. Branford Marcellus, I think. Joshua Redman. Well, on this track. It's Joshua Redman, and this is mental phrasing. Cyrus Chestnut on the piano on this.

5:54Woo! Gregory Hutchison on the drums, Rodney Whittaker on the bass.

6:04I mean, this whole era of the early 90s and Roy Hargrove, no one's doing Straight Ahead better than him at this point. I know. In my opinion, like, he's just crushing these albums. It feels so genuine. Like, you can hear his love for Straight Ahead Jazz in a way that's not like, yeah, this is what it should be. There's no attitude about, like, this is, like, it's just like, this is what's coming out of me. It's so natural. It's not dogmatic. It's so great. And it's not like this weird throwback to like, let's put on some old clothes. No, it feels fresh. You know, cosplay, swinging jazz.

6:36But you know what I realized? And it took me, I mean, actually, 94, I played with Roy pretty much that whole year in his band up until the beginning of 95. We didn't realize it at the time because we were all young and dumb, but excited. Like, Roy was, he was kind of like, you know, you have a bunch of, like, good athletes on a football team, and, like, they're waiting for a quarterback to come in. Not even waiting for a coach, just waiting for somebody, like, that one piece of the puzzle. The leader. The leader, but, like, that's out there playing, like, that's right in the middle of it. Like, that was very much Roy.

7:08Not that, like, Greg Hutchinson wasn't killing it with a bunch of other things. There was other, but, like, Roy, he just had this ability to bring out the best in all of us and make it so exciting without any kind of, like, dogmatism or anything like that. Yeah, it's really great. And you hear it coming out of this, right? Yeah, well, and speaking of sort of his openness to all kinds of music, we're going to check in with him now in the year 2000. This is from an album that we have talked about a lot on this show. It's D'Angelo's Voodoo. Yeah. I think we did an episode on this. He's all over this. This is Spanish joint.

7:39Yeah, I think he co-wrote this. I don't know if he got credit for it, but I think he did. Woo!

7:53Charlie Hunter.

7:56On bass and guitar. That's right. Yeah.

8:02Yeah.

8:05Uh-huh.

8:09We've never been rain. Feel this way.

8:14Little something to get me through this thing. Give me a little good day. No, not bad. Yeah. Won't it be a good day. Yeah. Those little horn things that are happening. And he doesn't, it's not like he blows for a long time on this album. No. There's a ton of solo stuff. It's all these, he's like the choir. Yeah. Yeah. We'll use any excuse to like, I know.

8:52Should we just listen to voodoo? We can connect voodoo with anything. No, but this is such a, I mean like, this was such a big part of Roy's progression. I can see where you're going with this and where we're going today. You know, part of his musical lineage, but like really transformative for him in terms of, he was like the ambassador, the brand ambassador between jazz, hip hop, neo-soul. Yeah. Although he didn't love that term either. Nobody loved it. But I mean like whatever this was, like he's the cross pollinator, right? Yeah. And because he's on voodoo and voodoo is now legendarily taking a long time to make.

9:28And all of these great musicians now known as sort of the Sulkwarians are spending time there in the studio. Roy is one of them and he starts to make music with a lot of people who are hanging around there. So his first album under the RH factor called Hard Groove, which is another album that we've talked about on the show, features these musicians. This is poetry featuring Q-Tip, Erykah Badu, Michelle and Degliocello, Mark Carey on The Whirly. Yeah.

10:01Again, this is a Roy Hard Groove album. Yeah. Mark Carey. Shout out Mark Carey. I followed him in Roy's band and learned all of Roy's music from listening to Mark Carey. Stylish. Yeah. Still killing him.

10:21Cause Roy makes the tune what it is today. And this was like around 2000, 2001. This is 2003. 2003. The overtone of punk is being driven by the students. The benevolence of Roy issued me the jurisprudence to speak. So that's kind of music that Roy is putting out. And then next is the next RH Factor is 2006. This is Bullshit featuring D'Angelo. Again. In the studio. Yeah.

10:49Sounds like Voodoo 2. It does. Oh no.

10:54All right, we got to do this record too. I know. We got to. It's so good, man. We got to connect the hard groove to this. Well, at the same year, 2006, around the same time he released. I think the same day. It was the same day simultaneously. That's right. We're going to say it was the same day. He released an album with his quintet. Now the whole time he's doing all this stuff with D'Angelo and Erykah Badu and all these people and Common, he's still keeping his quintet alive as a touring band. And he's recording. He releases a live album. Because it's classy to have something called a quintet. Well, no, it's just another form of his expression. By the way, he's got some badass folks in his quintets over the years.

11:29I mean, just like, he's like one of those bands, like Art Blakey's band or Miles' band, where, like, young musicians would come through his band over the decades. It's crazy. And this is from the album just before Ear Food called Nothing Serious with his quintet at the time. Justin Robinson on the alto saxophone. Slide Hampton on the trombone. Ronnie Matthews on piano. Dwayne Burnow on bass. And Willie Jones III on drums. Shout out Dwayne Burnow. Shout out Dwayne Burnow. On drums. Invitation.

12:03Yeah, I mean, this is Roy's bread, butter, margarine, everything. Who's this on drums? Live. Willie Jones III. Oh, Willie Jones. Right. Cool.

12:19Oh, man. He had so many great... Well, not so many, but a line of great drummers. You're talking about, well, Ralph Peterson. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, he played with them. Greg Hutchinson, of course. I mean, that was legendary time period. Willie Jones III. Of course, Montez Coleman. We're going to be talking a lot about him today. Boom, boom, boom. Quincy. Quincy Phillips, who I believe was the last drummer to have played with him. Well, and think about all his piano players. We mentioned Mark Carey. Yep.

12:49We've mentioned... Jeffrey Kieser. Jeffrey Kieser. Peter Martin. Yep. Sullivan Fornick. Cyrus Chestnut. Cyrus Chestnut. Came in right after me. Yeah, John Batiste. I think was maybe his last... No, it was a... I want to say a Japanese guy. Oh, you're right. You're right. You're right. You're right. You're right. It was really good. But yeah, man, like incredible bands. Larry Willis. Larry Willis. Larry Willis. Shout out Larry Willis, the OG. Yeah, the quintet legendary. I'm sorry. I know we're forgetting some people. Yeah, yeah. There's a ton of... In fact, after Roy passed away in 2018, there were a bunch of concerts. Yeah. All over the country and all over the world, actually, with people who had played with them.

13:21Yeah. Weren't you involved in one in Chicago? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, with Nicholas Payton and... I mean, you know, like Roy was really somebody... I mean, we just lost him too early. Did he even make it to 50? I'm gonna say... No, 49. 49. What a... I mean, it's still like that when a number of us that were in his orb and, you know, still talk about this when we get together and there was a lot of, you know, back and forth. It just hurts. It hurts not only for him, you know, as a person, as a son, as a father, as a brother, but for all of us as our musical brother.

13:54And, like, they come up at the same time when you... Of course, when you lose any... I mean, Dwayne Bernal, we mentioned. We lost him even earlier. He was... I mean, I got a chance to play with him when we were 20 years old with Betty Carter. Incredible force in the music. But when you lose somebody like Roy that was such a conduit for transformation in the music, and I think we're gonna see that in particular with this, what you just played us, but also with Ear Food today. But I can't tell you how many musical relationships that, even more importantly, led to life relationships that Roy was somehow the kind...

14:26He wasn't the kind of guy who'd be like, hey, Peter, I want you to meet the... No, he would just go into different situations with different bands and assemble people or go to a jam session. But somehow, he was always at the center of something extraordinary musically happening. I mean, not every single note every minute, I'm not saying... But, I mean, like, you look at these different bands and you look at the people that came away. But, I mean, like, I remember meeting Ron Blake, who, you know, is one of the most, you know, precious people on the world to me now, later on, because of Roy. Amazing musician. You know, because Roy asked me to come in. Yeah. And Greg.

14:56I mean, Greg I knew before. Greg actually brought me into the fold. So, there's all these different layers. Yeah. And so, when you lose somebody like that, it stings. It stings hard, you know? Yeah.

Ear Food and the Rhythm Section

15:06Well, this brings us to Ear Food. So, this is recorded in 2007, released in 2008. And I think one piano player we just left off the list there was the great Gerald Clayton. Oh, yeah. He stopped in a little bit. I mean, maybe the, like, one thing we're going to percolate on a little bit, let's put a pin in it for a minute, but, like, is this the best Roy band of all time? Roy Rhythm Section? This has got to be in the conversation. Yeah. This episode of You'll Hear It is brought to you by Open Studio. For musicians looking for more confidence in their playing, right now is the best time to join Open Studio Pro.

15:37Peter, those are our live classes. Our live classes are amazing global community of folks trying to live a more musical life. Our most bespoken program. Our new Open Studio Pro season is starting soon. Join us before October 5th to get the biggest savings of the year on an annual membership. Be there from day one with your fellow players. Don't miss out. Learn more at OpenStudioJazz.com. That's OpenStudioJazz.com. Gerald Clayton starts it off here with Cedar Walton's tune, I'm Not So Sure. Yeah.

16:13Feel.

16:15Tez. Oh.

16:18Woo.

16:23Man. Yeah. Joe Clinton eats this album up. What he's playing and what he's not playing. Dude. Montez too.

16:33Man, I would have overplayed that shit.

16:39Oh.

16:41Now the introduction, Montez's introduction of that backbeat there. Yeah. That's a theme on this record. It is. That's a theme. And the way he dances around. Justin Robinson, again on this album, Alto Saxophone Flute. Dan Bowler on the bass. And the great Montez Coleman, R.I.P. Montez. So this record, can we listen to just the beginning again? Yeah. Can we marinate on just... It's our show. We can do whatever we want. No, before you play, we always talk about great starts to records, great opening tunes, great... This...

17:11I'm sorry. Am I going to put a superlative on top of a superlative? Please. I may. This is what the show's all about, man. I think that the way that the rhythm section plays. So, Gerald Clayton, Denton Bowler, and Montez Coleman. So, Montez, we both played with a lot. You... He was in your group. You guys had a trio. We all had musical relationships, but you had a very close musical relationship later on from this. I played with him some before this, during this period. One of just the sweetest humans, you know, we've been around. 100%. And another brother that we lost, you know, way too soon.

17:45So, just... It's hard to even put those feelings aside in a way, but to be objective and listen to this, and then Gerald Clayton, who was only 23 or 22 when this record came out. I remember when he was in this band. He was the highlight of this band. I mean, he really was. Gerald. Gerald. Yeah. Just like... But, I mean, Montez was like the... I mean, it's such a corny thing to say. He was the engine of the band, the drummer. But, I mean, he was like the soul of the band, right? Montez is playing as pure joy. Pure joy. Anybody who's ever played with him or seen him play live knows that it's all coming from a place of pure joy for him all the time.

18:19And it just comes out in the music. But I just think in this introduction, like, the choices that they made... And I've been on a lot of these sessions where you're just like, okay, let's play... Because this was a really well-tuned band. This was not like calling some guys. This was a touring band. They're on the road all the time. Yeah, this was not a heavy lift. But the choices that they make right from this introduction, to me, set the table for this record in a way where it's like, damn, the level's high. Yeah. But, I mean, I would challenge anyone to find any... Not only any fault. Like, they're playing so little, but then so much.

18:50Like, some of the little details you're going to hear Montez do already. It's like way more than you should be able to get away with so soon in it. And then what Gerald doesn't play, but that little bit of thing that he jumps ahead. So now that I've piano-splained it, let's listen to it again.

19:07And it's just like a train coming up on you.

19:12Ah!

19:14Ah! Yeah, the amount of listening that's going on. The amount of swing that's happening between everybody. Yeah, and it's just effortless. This is no, like...

19:24Ah! Man, that's a perfect introduction. Also, just want to give a shout-out here to Al Schmidt and Steve Jennewick. Gene Wick. No, Jennewick.

19:34Yeah. Because the album sounds incredible. Yeah. And I was thinking back... Maybe the best-sounding album of this time. I wouldn't argue with you. I would say of... I would put this in a top 10 jazz sonic experiences. Best engineered records. Great. Which, I mean, it's so easy for us to go back and be like, well, nine of those records were in 1959. Hello, my darling. But I mean, you know, to do this later on when we felt like our great-sounding jazz records finished? No. Not at all. Yeah, what I was going to say is exactly that, Peter.

20:06You nailed it. It's like, this feels modern. Yeah. The sound of it. Yeah. It feels modern, contemporary, but still has the soul of a record from 1959. Yes. Like, it has the feeling of spontaneity, of roominess. Right. But it's got a little bit more clarity. A little bit more clarity on all that. And it's got some things that they balanced out so well in the mix. Because obviously, this is recorded live.

20:33Gerald's comping. Just even the reverb on Royce trumpet. Yeah. Just enough. This is what I would say is uneven. The saxophone and trumpet reverb is quite a bit more than the rhythm section. Like, that piano's very direct. And like, the drums are... Dry. But man, with the mix, it works, you know?

20:54And this was recorded at Capitol Studios in L.A. Just, again, the level of listening that's going on, like, the interaction between Gerald and Montez. I mean, we both know that experience. Like, you know, if... I mean, I learned so much having Montez in the trio for, I think, eight years we played together. Often... Not even off and on, like, every week, all the time. And with the incredible Bob DeBoo on the bass as well. And what I learned...

21:26I learned so much, but the biggest thing was just, like, he's always listening. He's always making you sound better. And he's always making everything swing and feel good. And you just wanted to raise yourself to that level. Absolutely. With a player like that. I moved back to St. Louis in 2005, after, like, 20-plus years in New Orleans and New York. And we weren't sure if we were going to stay or go back to New Orleans. And Montez, it was right around the time when he was moving back, maybe a little bit after.

21:56Like, he was here. But I remember seeing him and talking to us. I knew him, but I didn't know him well. We had played together some in the years, did some Max Jazz stuff, which I think is when you guys first came together, maybe, too. Yeah, we made a Max Jazz album in, like, 2005 or something. Right. But I remember, like, he was like, no, I'm going to mostly be in St. Louis. And I was kind of like, oh, okay. I think I'm cool to stay. Like, he had this, like, I always had such a respect. And this is before I really knew him personally and became friends with him. It just gave me, you know, like, sometimes if you're not in New York or New Orleans or, like, Chicago, you know, like, the big epicenters of the music.

22:27Like, he was so good that you felt like, and this is before I knew you. There's no shade on you or Bob. Actually, I don't even know if Bob was here yet. Not yet. Yeah. But I was just detached from this. Because all the guys I came up with that were great here were gone. Yeah. Or, you know, I was like, I mean, Willie Aikens was still around. You just didn't know anybody. I didn't know anybody. And I was like, Montez was like, no, I'm St. Louis. I was like, whew. Somebody. Yeah. And my wife is kind of like, let's check out the schools to make sure everything. I'm like, who cares? Montez is in town. We're going to be good. Because, you know, he's just, he's, and you know, from playing with him even better than

22:59me, you play with him so much. It's like, he's got that ability, very much like Roy, to like elevate you if you're willing. Like, it's like the boat kind of, you know, the water raises it for everybody and he does it in such a, did it in such a generous way. We've been dancing around a bit, but Montez did pass away in January of 2022 at the age of 48, which is the worst, the worst thing. Almost the same as Roy. Yeah. It's just horrible. Yeah. So, uh, next up is a Roy original called Brown.

23:36Woo. I love this song so much. Yep. Great second track. Oh, so great. You know? Transmit. And then it's like, okay, we're not backbeating heavy. Are we like a little bossa nova? A little, what's, what's going on?

23:57Nice. Roy's harmonic mastery.

24:06Man, but he, he knew how to like set up the form. We talked about it on all of the D'Angelo stuff, but he's a master at melody too. Like his, his melody writing. Imminently melodic player. Yeah. Musician. Inevitable melodies. Things that feel inevitable. Um, also this is doing something that I think Roy and Justin, saxophone trumpet, like playing in unison and they're going to diverge. And that's a great piano sound.

24:37Great pianos too. Yeah. I mean, even though Gerald Clayton's, would you say 23 here? Yeah. He has an old soul. Like he does. Oh, totally. And his playing. And if you meet him personally, he feels. I, this is right around the time I met him. And I remember, um, it might've been the year before at Monterey Jazz Fest. I was like, I remember being kind of like jealous of him, even though I was like, that's great.

25:15He's playing with Roy. Right on the same age I did actually. Yeah. But I was like, John Clayton, I'd known John Clayton for a while. His father. His father. Yeah. Who's one of like the greatest bass players and greatest dudes in music. Greatest man. Arrangers. Arranger. And like super genuine. I mean, generous. And like, and I was like, man, I mean, I love, my dad's great. Yeah. But John Clayton's. Hey, Bill's no slouch. But Bill didn't write Whitney Houston's national anthem arrangement for the Star Spangled Banner for the Super Bowl. But I was just like, damn, Gerald got that.

25:47I mean, Gerald's, I've been a fan of him ever since. It's so fun to see him now kind of approaching kind of middle-aged piano. Yeah. Which is, I mean, he's one of the best, man. One of many musicians coming out of Roy's bands too. Had a stellar solo career on his own. Made a big name for himself. He's a great solo. Man, Roy's playing so stylized.

26:09And by this time in his career.

26:13He's got that mute. I won't dare try to guess what the mute is. Because every time I try to guess a trumpet mute on this show, I fall on my face. Nope. Nobody corrects you in the comments, do they? They would never. That was not a stemless harming mute. That was a hormone mute. Our trumpet player friends put in the chat. I think that was a cup mute, by the way. I think it was. I just threw myself. He said cup mute. Was it? No, no, no. He said cup mute. Now put in the chat what the mute is on Brown. It's a coupe mute.

26:39Justin Robinson there. Okay. Next up is the third track. I just wanted to finish because we're going to come back to this. I want you to remind me when we hear it. Justin and Roy's ability to play lines together. That's from really, I would say, a small group of tenor. You talk about Miles and Wayne Shorter. They're pretty good at that. Roy and Ron Blake. I love the way they play it. They sound great together. Yeah. But Justin and Roy, Justin knew how to match. I mean, there was a lot of interoperability, I guess. What does that mean? I don't know. It sounded cool.

27:09But it's just like- Interoperability? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Symbiotic interoperability. Yeah, yeah. We're going to- They sound good. We'll synergize this and then let's circle back. Okay. Well, okay. Let's put a pin in it. Let's put a pin in it because this next track is going to prove your point. Yep.

27:29Oh, going straight to the hit, huh? Number three.

27:34But this is them. I think Justin and Roy, this is them at their best. Check out the way Montez sneaks in on this. Thoughts.

27:44Ding, tickle.

27:47Man. He's like, he establishes groove dominance immediately.

Strasbourg Saint Denis

28:01This is Strasburg Saint-Denis. It's a fun place. It's a bona fide hit. It's become a jazz standard. Roy used to say, it's a fun place. So he would explain, you know, it's a neighborhood in Paris. And then he'd always say, it's a fun place.

28:18Yeah, this is called the Jam Sessions. Yeah. This is a standard now.

28:25I mean, Roy wrote a couple of really simple, melodic, groovy tunes like this, like very quickly. It wasn't like a huge part of his thing. Obviously, this is probably his biggest hit from doing that. But you see why it is. Because he could understand those. So Gerald's inside the piano here, muting the strings. Yeah.

28:59Uh. Hey. I love this moment here. Comes back to it. Lay it back.

29:10Oh, man. And Kaz catches it. Catches right on it, man. Wait, wait. I want to back it up. Because not only does he catch it, he answers it. Yeah. Check it out.

29:23So do it again. Lay it back.

29:28Check it out. That was kind of nasty.

29:34Slow burn.

29:40Man, it's kind of, it's a challenge to play such an interesting and dynamic storytelling solo over these very simple changes. Yeah. This is a challenging tune, actually. You're right.

29:56Oh.

29:59Man, Montez connected those two solos so nicely.

30:06Oh. Oh.

30:11So that's a Royism right there, where he's kind of floating above. He's always done that from when I first heard him.

30:20Man, all these solos just, like, hit so hard. Ah. Come on. Move it over. Move it in. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. Uh. And this is maybe not even, maybe not even top 10 of solos of him on this tune. Yeah. Yeah. There's some live versions. It's really good. Yeah.

30:46Go ahead. Push the tempo a little bit. Yeah. We should mention early YouTube days. Yeah. There was a bootleg live version of this from a DVD they made that was, like, viral on early YouTube. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, and it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, uh, from the New Morning Jazz Club in Paris. For whatever reason, someone was like, no, we can't have that available for people to like, so they pulled it down, and then it's back up now. You can see it. Oh, it is? Oh, yeah. You can find it now. Okay. Our relationship to IP has changed quite a bit since 2007. I think this is Justin's best solo.

31:29It's good. I mean, I think I always felt like on these versions when I'd hear it, look, it's hard to solo after Roy. Tough. You know what I mean? It's hard to solo after Gerald. I mean, you know, it's, it's, it's, I think that Justin did such a great job of, like, infusing his personality. I mean, he's probably the longest tenured player ever in Roy's bands. Well, and it's, it's a, and was such a soulmate for him, trumpet, saxophone.

32:00Well, I was going to say, it's a wise move for Roy, because it's a little bit, it's a little bit fire and ice, oil and vinegar. It's just too different. Miles was so good at that as well, of choosing people to contrast him. Yeah. And it's almost like Justin's more like the George Coleman to Miles, as opposed to the Wayne Shorter or the John Coltrane. Yeah. But George Coleman was great. I mean, that's a good place to be. Next up, this is a tune by Lou Marini called Starbender. Can I have a cigarette first after that tune? No. You want a fridge cig? Fridge cigarette? Diet Coke? Frig-a-rette.

32:32Man, you're making up all kinds of new words today. This is almost like a...

32:44Oh, yeah.

32:52That's amazing.

32:55Their articulation, the matching, the intonation between Justin and Roy. This feels like something out of, like, 70s cinema.

33:31Yeah. And it's got, like, you know, shades of the Maiden Boy's Herbie Hancock groove. Oh, it's just opening. And on, like, a lot of these tunes, these are relative for a jazz album. Short tracks, somewhat. This one, I think, is a little longer. This is, I think, the longest one. Yeah. But it's a long time. But it's like almost three minutes before it gets to the solo. So patient. It's so good, man.

34:06Yeah. You mentioned the unison of them together is so... It's like a new instrument. Yeah. You know, it's like its own instrument. And the mix on this, I mean, Al Schmidt was a legend for a reason, man. It's perfect. He put his foot up in this mix. It's perfect. And you mentioned, like, things that are not playing. Like, Tez is so restrained just playing, just... Well, I'm kind of glad you cut it off there, because we're going to come back for Apex Moment. I thought so. So don't even...

Joy Is Sorrow

34:30Next track, Joy is Sorrow and Mass. This is one of Montez's favorite from this album, actually.

34:41Roy could write a ballad, damn.

34:46Found that diminished thing? I know exactly how to do that, but it didn't sound like that when I do it. It'd be close.

34:57Isn't that pretty? See, the thing about Roy, he was, like, kind of at that genius nerd level with harmony. Like, he played piano really well. Yeah. He knew all these tunes and, like, changes, and, like, could play strip by ear, but he knew how to write this. He was, like... But he was just a cool dude, and he had a great sense of, like, groove and joy. Yeah. So, like, that saved him from being just, like, another trumpet jazz nerd. You know what I mean? Because he's so good, he could have been that, you know?

35:27He was... Like, you hear those elements in the music, it's like... A cool dude is an understatement. He was an incredible, like, stylish person. Yeah. Had great taste in music and other things. Yeah. But he was so focused, too, that had he not had the other things, he would have been jazz nerdy in a way that would have been less interesting. He kind of had the complete human package, which was good. He was an artist. Yeah.

36:03Oh. His solo.

36:07Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

36:12Yeah, Montez loved this tune. And it's... Yeah, just gorgeous. When the playing and the writing can kind of transcend, like, this could have fallen into... And there's other Roy ballads I remember, and some stuff that I think was never released,

36:42I remember recording with him and just playing, like, I mean, he wrote so much stuff, like, so fast. So much great stuff. But it can be, like, oh, I'm writing a great American songbook-style ballad. You know what I mean? And so, like, let's go, let's put on some old clothes and go back to the 50s, the good old days, which apparently were not as great as we remember. But you know what I'm saying? Like, he... It was so up-to-date, something about it. There was a nostalgia there, and yes, it's like an otherworldliness of it.

37:14But to me, it never had that, like, that kind of throwback kind of vibe. Absolutely. Which can be a little bit corny sometimes. It was so authentically him and the music that he was making. And then, like, again, to his credit, he's doing all of these other things. He's doing the D'Angelo thing and the Aquarius thing, like, and bringing that into his own music. He's got the RH factor. It's like, it's obvious it's not just, like, a throwback costume he's putting on. It's just music that means something to him. But it wasn't like he had... It wasn't like he's like, okay, I got this ballad, but he's like, okay, Montez, play, like,

37:45a hip-hop beat underneath it, so it doesn't sound... I mean, Montez is like, you know, sweeping, brushes, everything is very... but there's these little, like, harmonic Roy-isms that are put in there and melodic approaches that he doesn't... It's never like, oh, let me... You know, he doesn't force anything into something... Like, because a lot of people... I remember when this record came out, it was like, oh, finally, Roy's really going back to, like, a straight-ahead record. But the thing is, there's only... I think we're about to hear one. Yeah. Next. There's only two tunes on this that are actually straight-ahead swing. Like swinging, yeah. Yeah. Out of 13 tracks.

38:17Yeah. So it's kind of a thing that he pulled off. It was a lot of backbeat stuff, a lot of groove stuff, a lot of things he's pulling in such an authentic way that you don't notice. But people thought that because they were like, oh, this is his straight-ahead group. This is an RH factor. But this, in a lot of ways, this is not just, like, Roy playing standards. You know what I mean? No, not at all. It doesn't feel like that. And this is another... I think it's because also it's mostly originals. Yeah. You know? And this is another one. Yeah, but there's enough other things. But it's programmed... It's programmed in a way that's like a story. Hey, everyone. Taking a break real quick.

38:47We throw around a lot of music theory terms here in the show. If you're Googling things like what is a triad? Hold on. I'm Googling. What is a triad? What is a Lydian chord? How do you spell Lydian? You don't know how to play that, bro. Good news. We have all the answers for you in the Liner Notes. You'll find the Liner Notes companion guide with clear, simple explanations of the concepts we explore in this episode in the episode description. Download the Liner Notes for this episode for free today.

The Stinger

39:15This is another Roy Hargrove original called The Stinger. Yeah.

39:20Now we're swinging.

39:25But we're halfway through the record before we're tipping, right?

39:31Ah, four. Come on. Come on.

39:42Ah, he knew how to use that four. I mean, Dan Bowler and Montez, this is right in the wheel. I mean, all of this stuff is, but this is like, come on now.

39:59Gerald.

40:01Justin. Of course.

40:07Ah. That's another Roy's. Be-dee-doo-bee-doo.

40:15Ah.

40:17Okay, so can you pause for just a second? That last little harmonic thing, it only comes at the end there, those three chords. This is an example of what I'm saying. Like, Roy had this, his harmonic ingenuity was, like, very advanced. Yeah. And so he'll throw these little things in, but he never, like, did as many as he could, which would push it into nerddom that most, your GP, your general population does not want to hear. Yeah. But he knew how to put a little bit in there. Just enough. Yeah, so if you pack that last little A section. Yeah. This next one.

40:57Oh, no, it's after the song.

41:00That. Yeah. That's the only time he does it, and it's right at the right place, too. Setting up a solo. Yeah. It's so cool. So it's, like, as opposed to, like, oh, okay, we know you know harmony. He just, like, pulls it out of his back pocket right as it goes into the solo. But that's, I mean, that's the mark of a great composer, right? Yeah. Is using that stuff where it's most effective, not just for the sake of it. And the mark of a great jazz nerd is overusing it when it's not as effective. Putting as much of it in as possible.

41:27Woo, Gerald. You don't have a problem swinging.

41:38It's interesting, like,

41:41like, Danton is a little ahead on top of Montez, on the beat. I always think about Montez because a lot of times when I play with him, he was pushing a little bit. Yeah, but, like, he's very flexible in terms of, like, feeling it.

41:59He's so good at that, of taking your solo to that place you're going for. This is the Harmony Mute, by the way. Harmone. From the Harmone Company of Paris. That I recognize.

42:10Stem or no stem? Can we not do this? Yeah.

42:20Man.

42:22Man, Roy's compositional style. Shout out Bobby Watson. Big influence on him. Cedar Walton, of course. We heard the Cedar Walton, too. Roy played with Cedar.

42:31Huge influences. Larry Willis, too, which we're going to get to a Larry Willis tune. Yeah, but I think having this track in the middle of the record, we always talk about, like, what's the balance, what's the apex place, but going to, like, the most straight-ahead swing on the record.

42:53Oh.

42:55Ah. All the solos on this are so good. Oh. We always talk about get back to swinging like we did in the 90s. This might be the time, man. 2008? What is this? Seven? It sounds so good, too, doesn't it? Man. I mean, Al Schmidt. This is a sextet. This is not a quintet.

43:27Oh. Oh, Gerald. I love...

43:38So, I know Gerald a little bit. Like, he probably would listen to this and be like, oh, it was okay. Yeah. But, like, man, this shit is badass. It is. I mean, he's gone on to amazing things and I love, like, his trio at the Vanguard. It's great hearing him on this. Yeah, but it's like, there's something about when you're at that early, mid-20s and, like, he's playing some Kenny Kirkland stuff. He's reaching. Yeah, he's throwing some, like, he's not, like, all together in terms of this is my finalized style, but, man, he's swinging his ass off. I love hearing... And playing the right shit at the right time. I love hearing everybody

44:09on the Stinger because they're playing... They're not... No one's overplaying. No. Like, phrases are short. Like, listen to all those solos again, like what Gerald was doing. Phrases are short. He's going in between, like, playing chords and playing long lines and... You know who would have overplayed on this? Who's that? Peter Martin. You know that. You know I would. I would have got excited. I would have. No, I would have overplayed. But, no, everybody's playing so beautifully. And, again, Montez is, like, is there to give you some stuff so that you can just do your thing and he's going to make it... But you remember how Montez was?

44:40Like, I love the way you phrased that to get... Like, he was so supportive and giving and challenging when you're playing if you were receptive to it. Now, this is obviously a receptive group, right? Yeah, that's right. You remember, like, if it wasn't happening, he would just shut down. He'd be like, all right, come on. He's just like, you're just going to get the quarter note and listen, world-class quarter note. Yeah, it's going to sound good. It's going to be great. But you don't deserve more than that. You're not getting the stinger kind of stuff. There ain't nothing here for you.

Rouge and Sound Engineering

45:03Next up is another Roy original called Rouge. This is an interesting track. This is a real short one, right? Yeah, two minutes and 45 seconds. He wrote a bunch of tunes like this. It's a beautiful note.

45:28Out of time, flowy. Gerald Clayton doing some lovely arpeggios.

45:37Now we're in.

45:43Yeah, this is like Roy connecting simple melodies with really interesting and exploratory harmony, right? Making those pivot points and connections.

46:03And again, him and Justin Robinson, so in sync, simpatico. The interoperability off the charts. Interoperability is really off the charts, Peter. It's true.

46:20Okay. This is one of the best engineered jazz records of all time. Did I say top 10? I'm going top five. I'm going top five. You think so? You think it's in top five? I'm going top five. Okay, real quick. What's your top five best engineered sounding jazz albums of all time? I mean, kind of blue. I know that that's a, but that's a damn good sounding record. It's a damn good sounding record. The church is the altar. I think, well, you tell me yours. Let's go back and forth because I'm going to forget some. Sure, sure, sure. So, kind of blue. Yeah. I think Bill Evans' Explorations, right?

46:51So we're in like 1959-ish territory here. I like Live at the Village Vanguard, Bill Evans, or Waltz for Debbie. Those are good, but I have another Village Vanguard. I think those are some of the best. Sonny Rollins' A Night at the Village Vanguard is my favorite sounding Village Vanguard, even though there's no piano. But are those records great engineered records or are they just in a great room? I almost feel like that's another category. Like this is at Capitol Records and I've recorded there before and it's a great room, but it's a big room. Hold on. There's so much. Okay, I still got to get out of the 50s. Yeah, get out of 1959. I'm going to put this one up there.

47:22This will be number four. I think you're right. I think this is one of the greatest sounding acoustic jazz albums of all time. And I'm going to put, you know what? I'm going to put, this is going to blow your mind. Aaron Park's Mysterious Traveler. You ever heard that album? The Blue Note? The Blue Note album. Aaron Park's Mysterious Traveler, one of the greatest sounding piano, touches, performances, the sound of it is unbelievable. That just comes to mind. Yeah. No, that's more than valid, for sure. I was just thinking Songbook by Kenny Garrett.

47:53That's a great call. You know, we always think about like the playing, the music, the interoperability of the tunes, the simpatico. The interoperability? Why not? The flow. The flow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean, the sound on it, like that's the thing, like we, it's just, especially in jazz, it's hard, it's easier for us to sort of just say, oh, that playing was great or whatever. But as we've challenged before with different piano sounds, when it's a little bit off, it's just a lot of work to get in there. There's some too, like even if you go to like

48:24Maiden Voyage. I was going to say, so yeah, any of the early 60s, especially for the blue note stuff, the horns always sound great. Would you put like, would you put like Blue Train or Love Supreme or any of those Coltrane albums in there? Yeah, I mean, Love Supreme is, The Impulse ones? is great. Crescent? So great. I mean, Black Codes? You think Black Codes is one of the? Crescent and Love Supreme, like the Impulse stuff, even with the quibble bits

48:54that I have with the piano, on those, I don't know, they fit so good. Also ballads, you know, Johnny Hartman, Duke Ellington, I mean, yeah, it's great. So Black Codes. Are we not putting any ECM on this either? Oh, God, we got to. Standards Volume 2. So now we're like our 20 favorite. I know, Facing You. I know. That's on my top five. That's a weird one. That's a weird sound. No, but it's great. It's so weird. Weird and great. It's weird. You don't like weird stuff? I like the album, but it's weird. Yeah. It's great. All right. Okay. Next up is Mr. But I'm off base to put this in the top five? Not at all. Okay. I think it deserves it.

49:25Okay. Next up is Mr. Clean by Weldon Irving Jr. Weldon, sorry, Weldon Irvine Jr. Yeah. Pardon me, Weldon. Great tune.

49:41Danton Boulder, unsung hero of this record?

49:45Oh. Got a great sound, Danton Boulder. Yeah.

49:50I mean, he's laying it down.

49:58Dig. That Albert Rotunda vibes, right?

50:10Woo.

50:13Huh. It's like a kind of nasty, mean shuffle a little bit, right?

50:21Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo.

50:29Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. Woo. get it

51:02so even on stuff like this this may be the most overt sort of Miles influence on Roy like we never think about like this is kind of water babies directions Miles-y but I never think I mean Roy was very influenced by Miles like all travel player but I never think about him as a Miles first kind of you know I'm hearing this

51:33more as a Freddie Freddie for sure Freddie for sure but I mean he didn't have that label the 70s Freddie was on CGI yeah yeah feels like that to me yeah Peter yes great sounding albums yeah Omarosa Giorgio Gilberto oh yeah that kind of stuff yeah that's in my way there's a lot of great ones another Roy Hargrove original style yeah yeah this is the only other swinger

52:04as we say whoo harmony whoo harmony man Dan Bowler's

52:43playing the right shit you hear that as is Gerald Clayton this is very reminiscent of like his early 90s style of writing man I love Ted's shovel yeah sneaking it in so good Montez was such an Art Blakey head too that he had one of those

53:14incredibly driving absolutely that's a St. Louis thing too by the way for sure because it's kind of built into every medium swing potentially you know you never oh he would put it on every medium swing wow and like breaking up underneath

53:44the solos with the form the rhythmic form with the chords and then you go back to the swing oh so great hey are you filling stuff out man look at you just

54:21going crazy incredible stuff another Roy original divine yep what oh oh oh oh

54:54Yeah, Gerald.

55:16So. Man, just gorgeous. That, this tune was actually reworked from something he wrote back in the mid-90s, I remember I was playing. Like, this was in the book that you guys had at one point. Because he used to move stuff around, you know. I mean, this is as good as a jazz album can sound, right? Yeah. That's, like, amazing. Yeah. Like, compositionally, the tone of his playing Montez's brushwork. And then placing this in, this far into the record, like, this is the most kind of harmonically explorative he's gotten, you know.

55:53Which is such a great place to put it. And then, but to layer it in with this beautiful ballad and just supple playing all around Gerald. I have more on that, but let's, I'm going to save it for the categories that are coming up next.

To Wisdom the Prize

56:02Next up, this is, you mentioned Larry Willis as an influence on his composition. This is a Larry Willis composition called To Wisdom the Prize. Ha.

56:14I remember hearing Larry Willis play this. The intro.

56:21Ah. D-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d.

56:32This is very, like, New York 80s vibe, you know. Compositionally. 90s.

56:40Let's go uptown to McHale's It does feel like it's from a more sophisticated time It's very sophisticated, right Where Every bar had carpet and smelled like cigarette smoke That's right But any moment Steve Wilson's going to walk in Just slam out a solo Wow, Wilsonian Is that Mocha Miller's bar? Yeah, exactly Yeah, this is very Bradley's This has been played at Bradley's

57:12What a time All right, a couple more tracks I love this next track

Speak Low and Desert Island Tracks

57:22This is the Kurt Weill tune Okay, before you play it Yes, sir Can we jump to the categories? Because this is actually my Desert Island track This next one? Yeah So this is Speak Low Yeah And this is your Desert Island track Yeah No, let's do it because actually my Shoot my shot too early? No, my Desert Island track is coming up after this Oh, okay Yeah, yeah Perfect Yeah, so this is the I mean, this is in the real book I love this tune You're going to be shocked When I tell you the other version That's number two to this It used to be number one But this is my number one version Of this tune I have another version That we can listen to too

57:53Here's Roy's version This is number one for me Wow Gerald did that perfectly Oh, they just fall right into it

58:29Unbelievable And the time is really Four One Two Three This is a Betty Carter tempo Shirley Horn-isms

58:59Roy said Oh In an interview That this That he learned this tune From this version Sarah Vaughan Live in Live in Mr. Kelly's, right? London House, Chicago Oh, London House, right 1915 Damn, Chicago had some people clubs

59:32Too soon Too soon Time is out Oh I mean, you can hear it directly Yeah, for sure No, there was another thing He loved Sarah Vaughan It was a couple tunes we used to do I remember he hit me to the Live in Mr. Kelly's record And the Oh, that was such a great

1:00:03Yeah, so Roy could connect Keep going Oh, is this the That's not the Barbra Streisand one This is somebody else's I'm looking at Babs right now Oh, it is Yeah, this is the one This is the one When you speak love Is this your favorite? No Roy's is my favorite But this is one of my I like I'm not a huge Barbra Streisand friend But I love the way she sings I like this Yeah

1:00:33It's a great tune Kurt Weill Yeah Underrated Yeah Okay, my Desert Island track If we're now on categories Is the ultimate track Yeah Bring It On Home To Me Famously By Sam Cooke I just love this song Yeah I sing this song to myself all the time And a strange little Play live Yeah Is it from a live performance in Austria?

1:01:04What's the name of the city?

1:01:06Come on, tell me It's from Gleisdorf Gleisdorf Well, I'm not going to yell it at you Am I yelling? Did you spit at me?

1:01:32Dang Oh I Roy ended a lot of his gigs on this And so it's a cool thing Yeah That call and response I would really I would forego a good chunk of my salary To do a Sam Cooke episode at some point That'd be nice I love Sam Cooke Sam Cooke Let's do it The history of Sam Cooke And the quartets And then

1:02:02And then The interoperability And like Then all the soul stuff Obviously It's just like Unreal Okay So that's your Desert Island That's my Desert Island Yeah, so Roy plays a lot At the end of his Or even like before And then he'd come back And do He'd sing it As like the encore You know, after that Apex moment Star Maker Two Go to like 2.30 The transition So we're all the way Two and a half minutes We're summing out to the solo This beautiful unison line

1:02:34That transition It's amazing Can we listen to it one more time? Go back just a little more Because I want to just It's so You're lulled into this place, right? And what Montez does And everybody else Just gets out the way And the way Roy comes in Also this pedal That happens here Yeah This setup It's really silence But the music's in the air, right?

1:03:05Oh, sharp five Resolved But the transition It's so unsettled, right?

1:03:34Yeah The whole universe in that rim shot I know I don't blame you Mine is going to be on the track Right before it Strasburg But it's The start of Gerald Clayton's solo I think it's one of the best beginnings Of a solo This century You're not the only one That loves this, by the way All the muted string stuff

1:04:05You gotta be careful with the muted string stuff I know Yeah, yeah I know But he comes out Some club owners don't like you putting your greasy hands All up in the piano At least that's what they've told me That's Oh, can I play you something? Yeah, sure Okay, I'm not on my I might need you to vamp a little bit Because I'm not on my My home computer here So Your home computer? Do you have your I am going And I might have I have to do a little searching So can you talk to the good folks? Yeah What is it that you love so much about that? Well, so Okay, so the muted string So he's reaching in with his left hand

1:04:36To mute the piano strings Now, for those of you who don't know It's kind of challenging Because in that range of the piano There are actually three strings That cause one note to play So you have to mute all three of the strings Right And then as you move around the piano You have to move your hand up and down Now, he's also doing this thing Where like he hits the note And then he comes down real fast On the strings with his hand So it's like this Kind of sound Yeah Like there's a natural attack But then he chokes it Right You know, and it's just something that Like we've all heard a piano But you've never heard a piano like that

1:05:07Yeah, and I think most people will be like Wow, that's like There's such a direct connection to the listener Because the rhythmic attenuation Is heightened potentially, right? But you're also like Wait, what's going on? You know But then it's so melodic Okay, so you're not the only one who loves that I want to play something Some other people have done versions of this Is this a cappella? It is Aca-fabulous He's not sold yet He's not sold yet Peter, what are we doing?

1:05:36You play Barbra Strasson's version of Everybody's so shiny That young man's wearing suspenders and a bow tie Look at his hair Look at his hair Perfectly cobbled Yeah, this has the potential to be really corny, right?

1:05:58Potential? That's pretty good, right? Maybe think about the places that you want to see Make a little happy on the same day These are, I believe, high schoolers Really? Maybe college level They're young Maybe college Imagine all the things I'd like to do with you But it's got the little stuff It's got the coughing in there The way you get to the piano song That's going to blow you by The name of the group is Syncopation

1:06:40But instead of an A in patient It's the number eight I said Aca-fabulous Check it out Oh, here come the boys Boys in the hood Wow Give the rhythm section some Is this from an episode of Glee? This is the other version

1:07:19Of his solo Oh, yeah, from The New Morning From The New Morning, yeah They play, I mean, they sing Gerald Clayton's solo

1:07:40That's pretty great That's pretty cool Oh, oh, come on Oh, come on There's a dance in there But I mean, okay, so I don't mean to slag off a cappella groups that much But it is inherently kind of funny You're not a Pitch Perfect household? Pitch Perfect 2? We are not a Pitch Perfect 3? We are not a Pitch Perfect You're a Pitch Perfect household We put down all accoutrements

1:08:11When one of those comes on cable TV, my friend What's funny about this What a journey this has been, Peter When I first saw this I texted Gerald And I was like I'm sure you've seen this But this is so cool And he was like Wow, that's cool I never saw that And that was it I thought it was going to be more like You know, he was like Oh, okay, cool Anyway Yeah, I mean, well You're texting the man An a cappella version of his solo I would love that If somebody sent that to me Oh, well, you heard it here first Sincapation Hit up a Peter Martin solo I recommend Emotion in Motion

1:08:43Or Broadmoor These kids are probably gristled 40-year-olds by now Broadmoor is great Solo on St. Thomas From Spirit of the Moment Let's hear it Okay Speaking of accoutrements, Peter What do you got? Accoutrements for the album cover?

Album Covers and Quibble Bits

1:08:54Oh, we go back to Yay! We're adding some categories back in Seal clap, seal clap, seal clap So apologies to producer Liz We're going to do some of our Seal clap, look at me Okay You really are a Pitch Perfect household I have nine Because I think this is one of his Roy's best album covers Like the shot of him It's like a very brown cover The shot of him I think it's great About to get on a stage, obviously Really good liner notes on this too Great liner notes, yeah It's a CD I don't even know if there is an LP version And then the DVD of the tour

1:09:25Yeah, so great I'll give it a nine too And I think that the album too It's not It's just like the music It's not throwback It's like very, you know Modern for the time Quibble Bits Do you have any Quibble Bits? I have one I think I think the album might be A little too long Thirteen tunes Interesting I would either do And this is hard Which tune do you hate That you want to take out? Well, that's the thing is I really love all the tunes But I was thinking As I was thinking about this Like Either it could be ten tunes Instead of thirteen Ooh Or It's two albums

1:09:57Like he could have done An album of like Roy Hargrove Quintet Ballads There's so many ballads on it It could have been A ballads album And then do like The grooving And straight ahead stuff On a whole other album And I think it could have been Actually enough For two albums Because it's interesting I would I don't think that's A quibble bit for me You could say it's So you want to take off The last tune perhaps? Definitely not No, no, no I mean that's the thing I can't really think of Speak Low I want to keep To Wisdom the Prize I want to keep Divine I want to keep all of them To me this record Is A ballad record

1:10:28Already Because there's more ballads Than there's any Like as a genre As a You know Type of tunes It is But that's I think that's You could have done One less ballad maybe In the first three songs He's setting this up Like think about that I'm not so sure Brown Which is that sort of Like straight eighth Yeah And then Strasburg And you're like Oh okay This is a groovy album Right You know what I mean But if everything's groovy Then nothing's groovy I agree I agree But I think I just wonder if maybe This was like They made an album of You know The seven ballads And then the six Yeah see I don't ever

1:10:58Like those All ballads I mean Well John Coltrane ballads But that's not all ballads They don't play them all They don't play them all In ballad style Okay What do you think You got any equivalents I don't Because I love this record Do you have any up next Like what would you Put up next on this I have one Which is Nicholas Payton's Payton Place That's a great one Well I see The Carter 3 By Lil Wayne A milli A milli When are we doing Some Lil Wayne When are we going back To New Orleans I would love to do Some Lil Wayne But also if we could do

1:11:29The Fleet Foxes Fleet Foxes Which is also on this Oh that is on there Good It's almost fall What about a little Taylor Swift Fearless I don't know that one Are you afraid of it Taylor Did you say Swift Yeah So we got up next We got Quibble Bits We got Accouture Snubometer I got a 3 Okay If you're on the YouTube You saw that The fear The fearless fly He was not a fearless flyer He was a whimsical fear Came across his eyes If you're listening Now it's Now it's It's an unconfident sneer What do you think I'm going With a number

1:11:59I've never done on here before 7.5 7.5 Yeah How are we always polar opposites I mean we're literally polar opposites I think this is kind of a snobby record It's accessible That's different than snobby But it's not super snobby But it's not in the middle I'm sick of the fives I'm not doing that It's obviously not a 10 But it's got a little snob Appeal Okay Awkward silence I don't know I don't understand how you look at the snobometer Because Well I don't understand how you do This had like The video of this was like Literally a viral video

1:12:30But that's not Yeah but the record Yeah if you say just that That video Something can be snobby and popular This is his most popular album You know It can be snobby and popular Okay Okay That's where we differ Is this better than K.O.B.? No I said maybe equal question mark I unfortunately don't think it is Okay So K.O.B. is just Is the mountaintop I'm starting to think it may not be It's not exactly the mountaintop But it's a great gauge for like Ultimate greatness Like It does sound great Now that I'm remembering It does sound really good

1:13:02But also remember K.O.B. has Great playing Miles Coltrane Cannonball Bill Evans Paul Chambers Jimmy Cobb Like And every song Yeah And talk about tight Like it's five songs Yeah I mean it's great And then if you weren't sure Just throw a little Wayne Kelly on one tune Just to push it over the edge Oh Wayne Kelly on one tune Yeah I mean it's just like It's unbelievable Okay This is good though This is amazing This is the K.O.B. of the early 2000s This is S-tier For sure Okay This is S-tier Okay Maybe we should do a tier list Let's do a sneer list The interoperability list

1:13:34I think that's about it I think that's all the categories Man we nailed it as usual So yeah Shout out again to everybody Al Schmidt Produced by Roy Hargrove And Larry Clothier Yeah Thank you to Roy For the incredible music That he left us Montez Coleman R.I.P. For sure As always much love And until next time You'll hear it joined by Roy Hargrove Reseter I'll see you Judd Oh guys I'll see you I'll see you I'll see you Maybe you You Head along and you See you Bye

1:14:06Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye

1:14:20Bye Bye Ciao