Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Roy Hargrove Quintet || ||
Album Title: Earfood
Year: 2008

Excellent trumpet man..

How I Got Into This Music
Been listening to his Hard Groove album for quite a while now; saw him at the North Sea Jazz Festival last year and I really enjoy his different styles, beit his groove funk mixup or his more traditional jazz work.

Reviews:
Videos: ||
Have a listen on:

Tracks that got my attention:
I’m Not So Sure
Like Last.fm’s DocterD said:
What an Intro
Short and simple, he’s right. Incredible intro setting up a great jazz groove, making you want for more. The piano is almost gospel.
The trumpet and sax solos are great.

Strasbourg - Saint Denis
Well, if you want to make jazz really accessible then a track like this would work. It’s got this complicated Walk In The Park feeling to it, that would work in any lounge bar.
Love the piano on this track.

Starmaker
Nice and simple theme, again, the piano works superbly. Just love the short choppy stuff on the keys halfway.

Mr. Clean
Hmmm.. It’s big and bad approach that dominates the track, but it doesn’t really work for me.

Style
Sweetness when Hargrove puts that horn to work. And the lovely breaks through the song..

Divine
Wow, that laidback trumpet again on this lovely ballad!

Bring It Home To Me (Live)
Great Sam Cooke tribute.

Conclusion
You want to hear a tight band perform? Listen to this album or go see them play live. Everything is performed professionally and with a lot of love. This album has a coupla tracks that really stand out but what I really enjoyed was the fact that I could put the record on and leave it to play all day long, without boring me for one minute.
Don’t lose sight (or hearing) of this artist!

Rating:

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First things first: some cunts over at rotterdamjazz dot com are splogging my posts through Technorati - no way of contacting them yet, but I have my traditional greeting for them: choke on it and drop dead, pretty please with sugar on top..

The Acts
Steely Dan
Paid me some extra cash to see these guys and it was worth it!! I was afraid Messrs. Fagen and Beecker would be al uptight and anal about the whole thing but they were relaxed and even funny sometimes. They played a great mix of hits and what really amazed me was how the sound was set up: almost everything was tightly arranged and sweetly balanced. Kudos to the sound people! - excellent show!

A Special Performance from London (Secret)
Funny thing, we were standing close to the entrance to listen to the announcer and when it turned out to be Jamie Collum, we got the hell out of there. We were just in time to see the tsunami of people hearing the news and running to get inside - not my cup of tea, waaaay too safe.

Benny Golson & Johnny Griffin: Remembering Trane
I was expecting mister Ron Carter, but he canceled, so that was too bad. BUT the replacements weren’t some talented hacks, these elder statemen of jazz rocked the stage with Heart and Love putting quite a lot of younger artists to shame - some real jazz, fantastic!

The Cinematic Orchestra
Interesting band, gonna check them out a bit more. The show was okay, dedicated and purposeful musicians - definitely on my to do list

Wicked Jazz Sounds Featuring Phil Horneman & Leroy Rey
Saw/heard DJ Leroy do his stuff in Paradiso a while back and this guy is incredible! His knowledge of rare grooves and oldies is huge, wow.. And he is one hell of a performer, setting up a beat, a mood and directing his audience to a place of pure Fun - people, you must check this guy out!

Hiernoymus Fox:
The gig took place on the roof terras under the beautiful sun. The dj I saw was Leroy and he really blew the crowd away with his mix of jazz and funk! He’s also a great entertainer, which really added something to the whole.

Roy Hargrove
Last year he performed with his RH Factor band, this year it’s back to jazz, solid work by a great group of genius musicians - loved it!

Maceo Parker
When we dropped in the show was already half way, seeing Maceo doing his James Brown style of entertainment is okay, but seeing him without his saxophone is disconcerting - didn’t like it at all.

Hieronymus Fox:
Donald Fagen was singing like in his best days and Walter Becker played very well and added a comic note to the whole now and then. They realy seemed to enjoy themselves and so did the audience!

Lura
Hieronymus Fox suggested we have a look/listen and it was a great suggestion. This lady mixes music from Cape Verde with different styles to create a passionate and warm sound - liked it!

Conclusion
Best of the second day were Steely Dan and DJ Leroy, with Messrs. Golson and Griffin as the icing on the cake.

Hieronymus Fox’s North Sea Jazz Journals at Last.fm:
Steely Dan
Golson & Johnny Griffing: Remembering Trane
The Cinematic Orchestra
Wicked Jazz
Roy Hargrove
Lura

Pictures at Flickr.com

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just one track: Annie Lennox’ version of the classic:
Everytime We Say Goodbye

Just found out that RH Factor (Roy Hargrove) got an album out this year called: Distractions. More listening on the to-do list..

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General Description
Artist/Band: RH Factor (Roy Hargrove)
Album Title: Hard Groove
Year: 2003

I’m sooooo slow on the uptake..
 
How I Got Into This Music
I didn’t.. Ehm.. Gotta be honest, I didn’t get into this music after a coupla tries and for quite a while I didn’t think much of it. First time I looked this album up, was after I heard Roy Hargrove play on the Think Twice version on Erykah Badu’s Worldwide Underground album. I found this Hard Groove album, and it just wasn’t working for me.
Then I got a chance to see him perform live at the North Sea Jazz Festival this year and again, it didn’t click - I was kinda underwhelmed. Last month I thought about the album again and I gave the album another listen. Hmmm.. Huh?

Album info at Answers.com || Album review at artistsdirect.com

Tracks that got my attention:
Hardgroove
Title track. Haunting movie score music, with Pino Palladino doing the nasty on bass

Common Free Style ft Common
One of the more balanced and dedicated rappers in the business doing an ok freestyling performance

I’ll Stay ft D’Angelo
Bass line reminds me of Quincy Jones, heh.. The vocals? First coupla times I heard this track, I thought someone was ripping of D’Angelo, but I was wrong: it’s the Man Himself! That guy’s incredible, even though the track\’s not that strong

Pastor T
Funky, jazzy instrumental

Poetry ft Q-Tip, Erykah Badu and Meshell Ndegeocello
This is the song that convinced me that this album’s worth paying attention too.. The recipe: add one of my favorite rappers, mix my all-time favorite bass player in it and add just a splash of a great soul diva - the result? Wow.. Wow.. Wow..
Love Badu’s chant!

The Joint
Powerful instrumental, Roy Hargrove’s horn is doing its subtle work

Forget Regret ft Stephanie McKay
Brittle yet strong vocals by a great singer. And that horn section, yummy!

Liquid Streets
Very smooth and lovely atmosphere

Kwah/Home ft Anthony Hamilton
Weird setup: starts out as one type of song and switches to another one after sixty seconds. And after two minutes, another setup all over again. All are ok by the way..

How I Know ft Shelby Johnson
This song.. Ohwow.. It’s such a simple song, but I’ve been dreaming about this song since I started paying attention to it. Can you imagine falling with a woman just by hearing her sing? Possible. Without even knowing how she looks? In this TV era, not likely, but it sure as hell happened to me
This track makes many a grumpy-grey rainy day make way for a smiling sunshine kinda day.

Conclusion
Still can’t understand how I neglected my duties: should’ve picked up on the quality of the album the first time I heard it. But hey, I screw up sometimes, heheh..
Roy Hargrove’s adventure into more mainstream sounds of funk, soul and Real R&B is a successful one. The more jazzy instrumental pieces allow new listeners to get a taste of that side of the musical spectrum.
The collaboration is what stands out on this album: great musicians making great music.

Rating: (better friggin’ late than never..)

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Our impressions of our second day at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam:
[Hieronymus Fox - HF; Frenchy - F]

RH Factor (Roy Hargrove)
[HF]
Couldn’t follow whatever the performance was about. The vocals weren’t that good. Mostly a ragtag set of tracks
[F]
Finally some jazz! Kept feeling the story told in most tracks ended a bit unfinished. Not impressive

Marcus Miller
[HF]
BassMaster! Great version of Miles Davis‘ Tutu. Great harmonica performance. Solid performance.
[F]
I dislike this guy, he’s way too good ;o) Also impressed by harmonica player (very, very impressed).

Erykah Badu
[HF]
Delay resulted in a shorter show (too bad). Compressed and hurried, not enough time to set up a real performance
[F]
Ultimate diva, a bit distant at the beginning, warmed up to the audience at the end. Great setup with sampler. Loved the I Want You track!

Paul Weller
[HF]
Very beautiful. Enjoyed it, sitting quietly with my eyes closed. A very restrained but personal performance
[F]
Grand old man of British music (cut your wrists if you’re thinking: BritPop). Solid performance.

Marcelo D2
[HF]
Samba hip-hop party. Great interaction with the crowd. Language barrier. Sauna temperatures at the Yukon venue
[F]
Best performance, best new personal discovery. Great artists!

Jhelisa
[HF]
Saw just a coupla minutes, too short. Nice, but didn’t seem to work with the crowd or the Yukon venue, should’ve gotten a better jazz location
[F]
Great singer, just didn’t work for me (getting a bit tired)

Kanye West
[HF]
Great setup with the live violins and harp. Nice make-up on the same performers. Not impressed enough by performance to start buying his stuff. Doesn’t click, doesn’t have it. Excellent DJ, though.
[F]
Never liked his stuff (still can’t really explain it). Funny to see the appeal this guy has: a very wide selection of people were really enjoying his performance.

Honorary Mention
The DJ at the Yukon who played in between acts. Very, very great work and prime quality selection of music!

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