Roy Hargrove’s “Grande-Terre”: A Posthumous Gem
Unlike most “lost” posthumous jazz albums, “Grande-Terre,” featuring the talented trumpeter Roy Hargrove and his vibrant ensemble Crisol, has emerged not as a collection of live recordings, rehearsal tapes, or discarded session material, but rather as a polished studio effort. Released on Friday, this album was recorded in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, in 1998 as a sequel to the celebrated “Habana” from the previous year. It stands out as an ambitious, global jazz celebration, infused with sun-drenched melodies and the spirit of island life.
The alto saxophonist Sherman Irby, a current member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, expressed his astonishment and delight upon hearing the album for the first time during a listening event hosted by Aida Brandes-Hargrove, Hargrove’s widow and co-founder of Hargrove Legacy, LLC. “We were tighter than I thought we were!” he remarked with a chuckle.
On the track “Priorities,” Hargrove’s exuberant trumpet work glimmers over captivating Caribbean rhythms laid down by a dynamic ensemble of four percussionists and two pianists. The album’s ballads exude a tenderness akin to whispered secrets between lovers, while more spirited numbers like “Afreaka,” a composition by Cedar Walton, swing with such exhilarating energy that it feels as though the band might lose control at any moment. However, they remain impeccably in sync, and this exhilarating tension is part of the raw, high-wire jazz experience that defined Hargrove’s performances throughout his career.
Despite the album’s brilliance, no one at Verve Records or within Hargrove’s circle can pinpoint exactly why “Grande-Terre” was shelved for so long. The answer likely lies in the concept of abundance. “You can only release so many albums at a time,” Brandes-Hargrove explained in an interview. During the late 1990s, Hargrove was a whirlwind of creativity, simultaneously planning an album featuring strings titled “Moment to Moment,” launching his big band, co-founding the nonprofit performance venue The Jazz Gallery, and embracing fatherhood. The blissful track “Kamala’s Dance” is a heartfelt tribute to his daughter, born in 1997.
Brandes-Hargrove has overseen the release of two additional posthumous Hargrove albums: “In Harmony,” which compiles duo performances with pianist Mulgrew Miller from 2016 and 2017, and “The Love Suite: Mahogany,” which marks Hargrove’s first composition for a large ensemble. Remarkably, Hargrove was only 23 years old when he premiered “The Love Suite” at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1993, just a few years after Wynton Marsalis discovered him performing as a student at Dallas’s Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and invited him to play at a gig that weekend.
Hargrove performing with his big band at The Jazz Gallery, a nonprofit venue he played a pivotal role in founding in 1995.