Here we go: "Roy Allan" is the first track of Royalty for Real (to be released on February 16th, 2024). Feel free to like and share!
So here I was, in February 2022, recording with a couple of my very favourite musicians... It's a beautiful composition by Roy Hargrove, dedicated to his father and it was released on his album Family in 1995.
Why did I choose this tune? Let me try to describe. I heard it many times in concert. It was not only Roy Hargrove himself who played beautifully but also his band. A couple of musicians of his band I probably heard the most thoughout the years are Gregory Hutchinson, Karriem Riggins, Dwayne Burno, Stephen Scott, Ron Blake, and later Sherman Irby, Larry Willis, Gerald Cannon and Willie Jones III, playing this great mix between hardbop, modal jazz and always keeping it soulful.
In musical terms: Roy Allan is all about the minor 6th chord, and in the bridge we get shortly into modal, to return, with a hinch of soul, back to the minor 6th chords. To me it is fascinating, how short the tune is, like a poem, yet having this endless quality that makes it sounds like a vibe you want to stay in, without wasting a lot of notes. If you know me well you know I love it when notes aren't wasted... The use of the minor 6th chord sounds a bit melancholic but also warm, and then the modal chords lift it up and when going back, the turnaround at the end of the bridge makes the following minor 6th chords a bit more light, cheering up...
I managed to record with Cannon and Jones III, Hargrove's rhythm section for many years, together with another Hargrove contemporary: James Hurt on piano. Hurt and Hargrove were around in New York at the same time, both active on the live scene. And there's another connection: Sherman Irby, James Hurt and Gerald Cannon played together a lot, and of course Cannon and Jones III still playing together a lot for more than 25 years... So glad I met these gentlemen in the 90's and we made this project work out.
What do you see in the video? Can you guess the locations where we filmed?
Read the latest newsletterAnd if you want:Sign up for the newsletter - Here we go: Roy Allan is the first track of Royalty for Real (to be released on February 16th, 2024). Feel free to like and share!So here I was, in February 2022, recording with a couple of my very favourite musicians...It's a beautiful composition by Roy Hargrove, dedicated to his father and it was released on his album Family in 1995.Why did I choose this tune?Let me try to describe. I heard it many times in concert. It was not only Roy Hargrove himself who played beautifully but also his band. A couple of musicians of his band I probably heard the most thoughout the years are Gregory Hutchinson, Karriem Riggins, Dwayne Burno, Stephen Scott, Ron Blake, and later Sherman Irby, Larry Willis, Gerald Cannon and Willie Jones III, playing this great mix between hardbop, modal jazz and always keeping it soulful.In musical terms: Roy Allan is all about the minor 6th chord, and in the bridge we get shortly into modal, to return, with a hinch of soul, back to the minor 6th chords. To me it is fascinating, how short the tune is, like a poem, yet having this endless quality that makes it sounds like a vibe you want to stay in, without wasting a lot of notes. If you know me well you know I love it when notes aren't wasted... The use of the minor 6th chord sounds a bit melancholic but also warm, and then the modal chords lift it up and when going back, the turnaround at the end of the bridge makes the following minor 6th chords a bit more light, cheering up...I managed to record with Cannon and Jones III, Hargrove's rhythm section for many years, together with another Hargrove contemporary: James Hurt on piano. Hurt and Hargrove were around in New York at the same time, both active on the live scene. And there's another connection: Sherman Irby, James Hurt and Gerald Cannon played together a lot, and of course Cannon and Jones III still playing together a lot for more than 25 years... So glad I met these gentlemen in the 90's and we made this project work out. What do you see in the video?Can you guess the locations where we filmed?
