Roy Hargrove Quintet

The Roy Hargrove quintet tour comes to Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club to treat London to the very best of contemporary jazz.

As the leader of influential hip hop collective the RH Factor and session player of choice for artists like neo soul pioneer D’Angelo, rapper Common and vocalist Erykah Badu, trumpet and flugelhorn player Roy Hargrove has enjoyed a high profile mainstream career.

But hard bop, a blend of bebop, gospel and rhythm and blues, remains his first love. As a teenager growing up in Texas he met and was mentored by the great Wynton Marsalis before making waves on the New York scene and releasing his first solo album, Diamond in the Rough, at the age of just 20. Though the trumpeter’s diverse influences will no doubt be in the mix, this Ronnie Scott’s appearance promises a return to those early roots.

Sure to be on the set list are tracks from Hargrove’s highly regarded 2008 quintet release Earfood which features the light-footed and impossibly catchy Strasbourg/St. Denis and a rendition of Mr. Clean, a signature track by legendary hard bop trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, that sees Hargrove explore the freer end of the jazz spectrum. Throughout, melodies bask in his burnished trumpet sound and the smoky warmth of his flugelhorn, giving way to well paced solos filled with swaggering lines and euphoric high register holds.

Joining him on stage is his working quartet which includes long time collaborator saxophonist Justin Robinson, rising star pianist Sullivan Fortner, Ameen Saleem on bass and drummer Quincy phillips, hard bop masters in their own right.