The Hot Box

The Hot Box


The Hot Box #039 – Roy Hargrove Retrospective

March 05, 2019


This Hot Box is a retrospective of music by the late Roy Hargrove, who died on November 2nd 2018 aged just 49.



Roy Hargrove was a hard bop-oriented musician (and acclaimed "Young Lion") who became one of America's premier trumpeters during the late '80s and beyond. A fine, straight-ahead player who spent his childhood years in Texas, Hargrove met trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis in 1987, when the latter musician visited Hargrove's high school in Dallas.


Impressed with the student's sound, Marsalis allowed Hargrove to sit in with his band and helped him secure additional work with major players, including Bobby Watson, Ricky Ford, Carl Allen, and the group Superblue. Hargrove attended Berklee for one year (1988-1989) before decamping to New York City, where his studio career took flight.