Roy Hargrove's RH Factor: Hard Groove

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I've been paying a lot of attention to new releases lately (ILM influence I guess), and it seems like nickalicious or someone else should start a thread about this new album. Anyway, it's got D'Angelo on it (who I think I will eventually like if I ever buy one of his CDs), Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Common, plus other jazz people. I don't know why I am starting this thread exactly, but I will now bow out and see if anyone wants to comment. I guess I like the sort of ethos around these people, even if I don't always like music very much.

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 16 June 2003 22:17 (twenty-two years ago)

haha, Roy Hargrove's a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 16 June 2003 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't really know him, but I thought his contribution to Red Hot + Riot was okay (which isn't high praise I guess, but at least it's new music with a connection to R&B that I can enjoy to some extent).

Why is he a guilty pleasure? His collaborators? Too downtempo? Borrows too much from Miles Davis?

― Rockist Scientist, Monday, 16 June 2003 22:54 (twenty-two years ago)

it's just a bit too yuppie jazz for me to buy in completely. plus I'll look at my cd's and think 'goddamn, I own four Roy Hargrove albums'.

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 16 June 2003 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

The audio samples from the new CD sound pretty smooth jazzy. I don't think I will get this.

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

sounds horrendous. has this type stuff (nu jazzer with rnb guests) ever produced a good record?

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Some of the stuff on that Fela tribute was pretty good. I think maybe the focus on his work pulled everything together.

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:23 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah. i'm remembering the second buckshot lefonque record and shuddering tho'.

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:29 (twenty-two years ago)

See, I picked up a free paper here in Philadelphia called The Jawn, and saw that it had CD reviews and information on upcoming CDs, and that's how this all started.

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:31 (twenty-two years ago)

ha philly has such a jones for this kinda thing

― jess (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:33 (twenty-two years ago)

a worthwhile thread for finding out blount has four hargrove records though

― gaz (gaz), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:37 (twenty-two years ago)

The Jawn,December issue

I find this thing kind of charming.

(The newer ones are all in pdf form.)

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 17 June 2003 00:48 (twenty-two years ago)

My mom used to listen to this guy a lot when she was dating a jazz snob. God knows how that happened; I've probably got two or three of his records lying about the old homestead as a result. Can't say it was ever my cup of tea.

― Ian Johnson, Tuesday, 17 June 2003 01:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't think Roy is that hot as a straight-ahead jazz player...he's been on a lot of stuff with older musicians lately, i.e. the Herbie Hancock tribute to Miles, the Roy Haynes tribute to bird, etc. and he gets consistently outshined by his bandmates or the trumpet players who replace him (i.e. Nicholas Payton).

That said, I do like his contributions to Like Water For Chocolate, Mama's Gun, Red Hot + Riot, etc. This album sounds like something that could be really mediocre and inessential, another wannabe jazz-hip-hop thing, but I listened to some clips online and the grooves seemed really deep. The bands sounds like they are hitting it, and I'm actually interesting in hearing it.

I haven't read any worthwhile reviews though, it seems like the kind of project that will get either praised or trashed just based on what it is.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 14:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Saw Hargrove with the Hancock/Brecker/Hargrove thing he was involved in last year and thought he was easily the most satisying soloist of the three despite being the least celebrated. Mind you that's damning him with faint praise somewhat because Brecker was doing his "greatest sax virtuoso in jazz" thing and Hancock was disappearing up his own arse trying to make sure that he didn't play anything too "obvious". Hargrove was the only one of the three who seemed focussed on playing the most musically satisfying concept he could hear at the time.

Based on that I was interested in at least hearing the new album although comments above don't seem encouraging. Agree w gaz that it's hard to think of examples of this genre producing good albums, even though my interest in mainstream contemporary jazz is probably a lot stronger than most ilxers. I mean I love Dave Douglas, but my hear would sink at the thought of a DD album with the guests mentioned here, even though I think they are credible artists in their own right.

― ArfArf, Tuesday, 17 June 2003 16:01 (twenty-two years ago)

John Murph who writes for Jazz Times and the Washington City Paper wrote a rave review of this in the City Paper calling it the most important black music release of the year (I'm paraphrasing as I don't have the article in front of me and his review is not online but I'm pretty sure that's what he said. I think I have the article around somewhere!).
Murph also loved the most recent Common album (Common is on this as well). He threw in a bunch of Stevie Wonder comparisons if I recall. Somebody in the NY Times (Ben Ratliff maybe) said the cd had good intentions but the songwriting execution wasn't there. Hargrove is touring with this group and I may go check them out live on Sunday with Los Van Van from Cuba; Maceo Parker; Gatemouth Brown; and Bobby Parker at Wolf Trap Farm Park outside Washington D.C.

― Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 18:48 (twenty-two years ago)

'RH Factor' starts off OK - one track has some great squelchy keyboards on it, the rapping works OK, the George Clinton cover is more than passable - but it's MUCH too long and all over the place and filled w/ 2nd rate tunes to be in any way satisfying.

That Hancock/Brecker/Hargrove live alb is one of the most boring jazz recs I've ever heard.

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 18:57 (twenty-two years ago)

What little of this record (the track with Common, the track with D)I've heard I've liked quite well, but I need to delve deeper before I can offer too much. But as far as I've heard so far, it sounds better than I expected (sometimes jazzy dudes going in not-so-jazzy directions = uh-oh, but I think Roy has a genuine love for & connection to groove & hip-hop & soul).

Roy delivered some serious shit when I saw him in D'Angelo's Voodoo touring band though, that much I KNOW.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 17 June 2003 19:09 (twenty-two years ago)

(Steve, I'm not a big fan of their recordings, but Los Van Van put on a really good live show the one time I saw them. There have been some personnel changes since then, but they should still be good. I'd go see Roy Hargrove and Van Van on the same bill, but more for the latter.)

― Rockist Scientist, Tuesday, 17 June 2003 23:03 (twenty-two years ago)

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