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Welcome to a new edition of the Best Music of All Time newsletter!
Today’s music pick is a shining example of 21st-century jazz fusion, combining disparate genres under a groove.
Historically, jazz’s embrace of external rhythms and genre influences has always been met with reactions that range from confused to enraged. The obvious example is Electric Miles, who was accused of ruining jazz from the inside out. Like those recordings, the appeal of Hard Groove, the 2003 release from Roy Hargrove credited to his group The RH Factor, is how much flavor it packs into every bite of its sonic gumbo. At that point in the late trumpeter/composer’s career, he’s already gained a reputation for eyebrow-raising experimentation, like in his 1995 reimaging of Bird standards on Parker's Mood. Here, he takes a similar tact, breathing new life into what most people think of when the term “jazz fusion” is thrown out in conversation: elements of rock, soul, and funk, usually punctuated with wild solos and abrasive playing. Hargrove updates the formula by adding more hip-hop and afro-centric components, creating a record equally suitable as a late-party driver or an early-morning come-down from a night spent moving to grooves that go … well … hard.
The uniformly excellent cameos best exemplify the circular nature of the inspiration-modernization formula on Hard Groove. Whether it’s the eponymous rapper’s effortless bars on “Common Free Style,” D’Angelo’s silky-smooth delivery on the Funkadelic cover “I’ll Stay,” or the easy interplay between Q-Tip and Hargrove’s high school classmate, Erykah Badu, on “Poetry,” every note is supremely calm and confident. You can hear the resemblance to 60s and 70s-era jazz-funk from the likes of Donald Byrd or Grover Washington Jr., but nothing ever feels like a tired rehash or reboot. Instead, Hargrove positions himself as a central figure and a curator, working tirelessly to ensure the other voices shine. His soloing and improvisations, especially with saxophonists Keith Anderson, Jacques Scharz-Bart, and Steve Coleman, put his virtuosity on full display, reminding listeners why he was so revered from such an early age. That said, my biggest takeaway from this record isn’t those flashes of brilliance. The underlying grooves, simultaneously powerful and laid-back, ultimately steal the show and make this LP worth remembering and replaying.
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