The Roy Hargrove Quintet

Earfood

(Emarcy)

Compared to trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s alter ego – who plays raw hip-hop and edgy funk in a band called the RH Factor – the Roy Hargrove of Earfood plays lyrically with a warm and wonderfully burnished tone. And this Hargrove plays jazz – the type that clearly derives from hard bop but is a bit easier on the ears.

With tunes this cool, the musicians reach deep inside the form and experience the music in very personal ways. For the most part, Hargrove’s cohesive quintet of alto saxophonist Justin Robinson, pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Danton Boller and drummer Montez Coleman take relatively short solos throughout. They “get in and out,” as jazz musicians say, with succinct yet expressive personal statements using the material at hand. No songs are bogged down by solos containing loquacious multiple choruses or any type of grandstanding.

This is tasty music from the get-go, reminiscent of the condensed, vignette approach used by venerable trumpeter Clifford Brown when his quintet recorded for the same record label during the mid-’50s. In fact, Hargrove has a great deal in common with the short-lived, yet vastly influential Brownie, including an uncanny gift for melodic invention and one of the fattest, most beautiful trumpet sounds on the planet. Recording engineer Al Schmitt deserves credit as well. His careful attention to sonic detail allows each member of this outstanding quintet to sound as they actually do – which often is not the case – and the mix is perfect.

From Cedar Walton’s catchy opener, “I’m Not So Sure,” through Hargrove’s sublime and tempo-less “Rouge,” and onto the leader’s bass-walking “Style,” this winning musical statement flows seamlessly from beginning to end, through a band with the finesse to do it justice.

- James Rozzi