Jazz trumpet player extraordinaire Roy Hargrove is a musician seemingly without borders. In his fourteen years as a professional musician, the 33 year old has incorporated many of modern music's genres and made them his own. Delivering soundscapes informed by hard bop (With The Tenors Of Our Times), to Latin (Crisol Habana), strings and things(Moment To Moment) to r'n'b kings(his work on D'Angelo's joint, Voodoo) he's simply not content to play by rote. Toronto audiences are blessed with two appearances from Roy this summer.

First he graced the stage at Massey Hall May 15th along with jazz giants Herbie Hancock, Kenny Garrett, Dave Holland, and Roy Haynes as the legendary hall celebrated the 50th anniversary of what many have called the "greatest jazz concert ever", an event which joined on stage the genius of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and Bud Powell for one memorable night of music that will probably never be equaled. Then, as part of Toronto's duMaurier Downtown Jazz Fesival, Roy will unveil his latest endeavor, The RH Factor, on June 29th at Nathan Phillips Square. On this project, Roy delves deeper into his r'n'b/funk roots as well as his growing appreciation of rap. " I don't know as of yet who I'll be bringing with me on this gig," Hargrove admits via phone from his latest gig in Switzerland.

Montreal Jazz Festival audiences got a chance to experience Hargrove's latest direction last year when he surprised some of his longtime fans with The RH Factor's funky stylings. His ensemble there included two saxophonists, guitar, organ, keyboards, bass and two drummers plus singer Stephanie McKay. On some jams Hargrove used an electronic attachment on his horn a la Miles Davis. Nonetheless, it was considered a success with the Montreal massive. He dropped the studio version of his latest reality on May 20th.

The 14 track effort titled "The RH Factor: Hard Groove" brings together r'n'b neo/soulsters D’Angelo, Anthony Hamilton, Erykah Badu and Stephanie McKay alongside nu/jazz players Steve Coleman, Bernard Wright, Karl Denson, Gene Lake, James Poyser, Pino Palladino, and Jacques Szwarcbart. He tops it off with wordsmiths Q-Tip and Common. This is at once a funky, exhilarating, yet at times languid body of work that connects on many levels.

As Hargrove explains,"I just wanted to open a door that would allow the musicians involved in jazz and the musicians involved in the r'n'b/hip hop mainstream to form some music that would have no limit. It's like a merging of those two worlds." The New York based Hargrove has had ample opportunity to jam with musicians outside of the realm of jazz. He's become friends with a few of them. "D'Angelo and Erykah are my friends and we all hang out together when I'm in New York," Hargrove goes on, connecting the cd's musical dots. "I knew Karl Denson from working on his album Tiny Universe.

Growing up in Waco, Texas, Roy's first musical influences were the gospel music that he heard in church and the r'n'b music he heard on the radio. He began playing trumpet in the fourth grade. Incredibly gifted, Hargrove rocketed up through all levels of jazz music's institutions of higher learning culminating in his senior year of high school when he was asked to join Frank Morgan on his European tour.

From there Roy enrolled in Boston's prestigious Berklee School of Music, but New York beckoned and Roy left Berklee after one year, jamming and giging in tha "city" with the likes of Bobby Watson, Ricky Ford, Carl Allen and Superblue. But with all that Hargrove has accomplished the knock on him is that he hasn't fully realized his potential. "I don't know what it means, really. I think people who write that do it because I'm young. In the jazz world you get respect the older you get. That is all it is!"

Roy continues to give his perspective on some of his critics opinions. "Being a young musician, you are always subject to some kind of criticism just because, "Oh, you're young. You don't know shit. They have to put something on it like, "He's going to be good in a Couple of years." It is not something that offends me. I understand where it comes from. Perhaps if I were them, I might say the same thing."

Getting back to The RH Factor, Hargrove explains his new direction in the music and what it means to him on various levels. "Personally this represents the passion that I have for the music to want to take it forward. That feeling alone made me realize that this was a spiritual event and that it was something that was history, something to be remembered. That's what the record is, opening a new door. And this is only the beginning. There will be more episodes to come!"

Victor Bains Marshall can be heard every Wednesday from 5:00-7:00 PM on Radio CKLN 88.1 FM

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