Most jazz recordings generally have long legs, selling copies months and sometimes years after their initial release dates. Then there are those rare few that are destined to be albums for the ages. Trumpeter extraordinaire Roy HargroveΓÇÖs newest Verve release, Moment To Moment, promises to be one of the endurables: a recording that will be recognized for years to come as the first great jazz album of the new century. A disc comprised entirely of ballads, Moment To Moment, features HargroveΓÇÖs quintet and a full string orchestra (on eleven of the twelve tracks) combining to create a classic that is as beautiful as it is transcendent.
ΓÇ£IΓÇÖve always wanted to do a ballad project,ΓÇ¥ says Hargrove, who plays trumpet and flugelhorn on Moment To Moment. ΓÇ£Whenever I perform ballads in live sets, people respond. So I though it would be a good idea to devote a whole album to ballads. IΓÇÖve always loved those kinds of albums, especially John ColtraneΓÇÖs and those ballads-with-stings albums by Clifford Brown and Donald Byrd.ΓÇ¥
On Moment To Moment, Hargrove covers such classic tunes as the Sammy Cahn-Jule Styne gem ΓÇ£I Fall In Love To Easily,ΓÇ¥ Johnny MandelΓÇÖs ΓÇ£A Time For Love,ΓÇ¥ Jimmy DorseyΓÇÖs ΓÇ£IΓÇÖm Glad There Is YouΓÇ¥ and the sublime Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer title number. In addition, Hargrove serves up Pat MethenyΓÇÖs ΓÇ£Always And ForeverΓÇ¥ and Antonio Carlos JobimΓÇÖs ΓÇ£How Insensitive,ΓÇ¥ as well as his own original composition, ΓÇ£Natural Wonders.ΓÇ¥
The mood is decidedly relaxed, with pockets of low-lights romanticism, hushed sentimentality, dreamy musing, reflective vulnerability and quiet mystery. The sensibility stands in stark contrast to HargroveΓÇÖs last Verve release, Habana, the Grammy winning, rowdy, upbeat party of Afro-Cuban music explorations with his band Crisol that took the trumpeterΓÇÖs career to a new level.
Moment To Moment was recorded in October 1999, a few weeks after the Monterey Jazz Festival. The sessions took place at nearby Red Barn Studios (owned by Al Jardine of the Beach Boys) ΓÇö 200 yards from the secluded, spectacular Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur.
ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs such a beautiful place, and that added to the vibe of the sessions,ΓÇ¥ says Hargrove. ΓÇ£We were going to record in New York, but that proved to be difficult for the quintet. ThatΓÇÖs where we all live, so we knew weΓÇÖd all be rushing around before and after the sessions to take care of other business. But at Big Sur, youΓÇÖre in the middle of nothing, except for mountains, coastline, fresh air and laid-back folks. It was beautiful and it put everyone in the right state of mind for this project.ΓÇ¥
The Monterey Bay area, 100 miles south of San Francisco, has become like a second home for Hargrove. In the last several years he has performed there regularly, at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Big Sur Jazz Festival. And in those rare weeks when heΓÇÖs not on the road playing gigs, the area has become one of the trumpeterΓÇÖs preferred vacation destinations.
Joining Hargrove for Moment To Momtent are his quintet members: alto saxophonist Sherman Irby, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones, III. String arrangements for the tunes were done by committee, with Gil Goldstein arranging three numbers, Larry Willis five and Cedar Walton two (the latter two musicians are old friends and teachers). The string support came from the Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra led by violinist and concertmaster Sue Brown. HargroveΓÇÖs longtime manager (and the albumΓÇÖs producer) Larry Clothier enlisted the orchestraΓÇÖs support after hearing their performance during Terence BlanchardΓÇÖs ΓÇ£Jazz In FilmΓÇ¥ concert at the Monterey Jazz Festival.
HargroveΓÇÖs first recording in three years, Moment To Moment is his fifth for Verve and eleventh overall as leader. The 30-year-old trumpeter has been recording as a leader for more than a decade, issuing four CDs on Novus before signing with Verve in 1993. Since then he has recorded several strong outings, including the all-star cast album With The Tenors Of Our Times (featuring Johnny Griffin, Joe Henderson, Branford Marsalis, Joshua Redman and Stanley Turrentine) in 1994, Family and ParkerΓÇÖs Mood (a collection of tunes associated with Charlie Parker) in 1995, and the aforementioned Habana in 1997.
Along the way, HargroveΓÇôwidely recognized as one of the top improvising trumpetersΓÇôhas not only wowed crowds throughout the jazz world as he leads what is arguably the hardest working and most exciting band in jazz, but has also impressed critics who award him high scores in polls. In addition, Hargrove has been involved in a number of side projects, ranging from T.S. MonksΓÇÖ Monk On Monk recording to pop star DΓÇÖAngeloΓÇÖs new album Voodoo. (Hargrove, who says that funk and R&B have always been an integral part of his music education, also went on the road with the singer earlier this year, to kick off the Voodoo tour.)
Hargrove cites the strong influence of singers for his tune selections, especially the standards. HeΓÇÖs particularly drawn to Shirley Horn. ΓÇ£Shirley is such a great interpreter of songs,ΓÇ¥ he says. ΓÇ£She uses lots of space and takes the time to give feeling to the lyrics. ThatΓÇÖs why I brought a book of lyrics into the studio with me for this recording. I wanted to understand the song while I played it and phrase like I was singing.ΓÇ¥ He laughs and adds, ΓÇ£ItΓÇÖs funny. Singers try to sound like horn players and here I am a horn playing trying to play like a singer.ΓÇ¥
Two numbers that were suggestions from Richard Seidel and Jason Olaine of Verve ended up making the final cut for the album: The Metheny and Jobim tunes. ΓÇ£IΓÇÖve always liked PatΓÇÖs music,ΓÇ¥ Hargrove says. ΓÇ£His ΓÇÿAlways And ForeverΓÇ¥ has a very pretty melody. We asked Gil to do the arrangement. It came out being one of my favorites on the album. I decided on Jobim because IΓÇÖve always been interested in Brazilian themes. Again, this song is a great melody to remember.ΓÇ¥
Hargrove wrote ΓÇ£Natural WondersΓÇ¥ which features his first recorded string arrangement, after one of this Big Sur visits. ΓÇ£We played this one gig outside on the deck, alongside the pool at Esalen InstituteΓÇ¥ he recalls. ΓÇ£Right behind us was a cliff and the ocean below. You could look out and as far as you could see thereΓÇÖs nothing but Pacific Ocean. The sun was out and shining on the water. It was glorious. At that point, I was just absorbing the beauty.ΓÇ¥ The tune is also self-arranged, thanks to a recent performance he had done with Johnny Griffin, Cedar Walton, David Williams and Billy Higgins at YoshiΓÇÖs jazz club in Oakland. ΓÇ£Those guys are all such pioneers, such masters at playing ballads. It was a good education for me because I used what I learned to arrange this piece in my hotel room one night after the gig.ΓÇ¥
As for the title number, Hargrove says that it was a tune Willis taught him. ΓÇ£I fell in love with it immediately,ΓÇ¥ he says. ΓÇ£I love the way thereΓÇÖs a crescendo in the melody. It makes for a very dramatic feeling the way the melody flows. Just like all the other numbers on the album, it allowed me to pour in a lot of emotion.ΓÇ¥
