Nothing Serious

Verve celebrates the simultaneous release of two brand new studio recordings by trumpeter/composer/bandleader Roy Hargrove's main touring groups the RH Factor Distractions and the Roy Hargrove Quintet Nothing Serious. Both titles will be available at an attractive price point C14 and will be marketed together including ads in the June/July issues of Jazziz, Sister 2 Sister and Upscale and a double-sided 4 color 1X1. Major Sound Scan markets: NY, LA, DC, SF, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Detroit, Portland, Dallas and Seattle. Media will be serviced with both titles and pitched on Hargrove's musical diversity and stature as an artist equally at home in the worlds of urban music & jazz Confirmed press: Down Beat cover story in March, plus features and reviews in AOL Black Voices, Jazziz, Jazz Times,.

Despite the title, this disc--simultaneously released with Distractions, a CD by his neo-soul group, RH Factor--is trumpeter Roy Hargrove's first acoustic jazz recording since 2000 release, Moment to Moment. The leader's full-bodied, bravura tones are as bright and bold as ever, edging more into the stylistic atmosphere once occupied by the former trumpet god, Freddie Hubbard. Hargrove is backed by a quintet featuring ex-Jazz Messenger, pianist Ronnie Matthews, bassist Dwayne Burno, drummer Willie Jones IIII, and alto saxophonist/flutist Justin Robinson. They pull no punches on these no-nonsense tunes, like the Latin-tinged title track, and the John Coltrane/Ornette Coleman-coded "Camaraderie." Special guest Slide Hampton makes his elegant trombone presence felt on his soaring tune, "A Day in Vienna," on the waltzy "Salima's Dance," and the standard, "Invitation." So much for the myth that jazz musicians like Hargrove can't play funk and swing at the same time. --Eugene Holley, Jr.