You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - Earfood – Roy Hargrove

Episode Date: September 28, 2026

Even if you don't recognize his name, you've heard his sound. Jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove played trumpet on, and contributed arrangements to, D'Angelo's Voodoo, Common's Like Water for Chocolate, and Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun. He was equally at home with neo-soul and hip-hop, and straight-ahead acoustic jazz. At the same time he was contributing to era-defining Soulquarian projects, he was producing music with his jazz quintet.Today, jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin listen to his 2008 masterpiece Earfood and explore why it may be the perfect jazz album for the jazz-curious neo-soul fan.-------------------------------Play with confidence. OS Pro's live classes, coaching, and community help you get there. Join the new Season and save $769 through Oct. 4.https://yhi.link/OSPro-------------------------------Learn to talk like a jazz musician. Download the Liner Notes FREE today:https://yhi.link/earfood-------------------------------Learn to play tracks from You'll Hear It. Join the You'll Hear It Players Club:https://yhi.link/players-club-------------------------------📞 Send us a message: https://youllhearit.com/------------------------------About You'll Hear It:Jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin unpack popular albums track-by-track in this weekly listening party. They talk about what their trained ears hear in the music, offering audiences a new window into the records they love.00:00 The hidden force behind neo-soul02:04 Roy Hargrove’s early years07:07 D’Angelo, Voodoo and the Soulquarians9:25 The RH Factor and Roy’s quintet15:08 I’m Not So Sure23:10 Brown27:24 Strasbourg / St. Denis32:01 Starmaker34:09 Joy Is Sorrow Unmasked38:56 The Stinger44:43 Rouge49:06 Mr. Clean51:37 Style54:01 Divine55:45 To Wisdom the Prize57:11 Speak Low1:00:26 Bring It On Home to Me1:02:04 Adam and Peter’s favourite moments1:08:47 The final verdict

He was like the brand ambassador between jazz, hip hop, Neil Sol. Like, he's the cross-pollinator, right? Yeah. Time to revisit. One of the all-time classics of the 21st century, Roy Hargrove's 2008 masterpiece. Ear food. Yes. This is, I think, one of the greatest entry point jazz albums for people that are jazz

curious. So now that I've pianosplained it, let's listen to it again. I'm at Amanis. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hear It Podcast. Music, Explored. Brought to today by Open Studio. Go to Open Studio, jazz.com.

Your jazz lesson needs, Peter. It's good to be back in the saddles. Oh, buddy. And it's a good one today. Because this is one of our favorite albums. In fact, we did this album a long, long time ago, before the show is what it is now. And we thought it was time to revisit

one of the all-time classics of the 21st century. And that is Roy Hargrove's 2008 masterpiece, Ear Food. You know, I'm excited about this because you love this record. I love this record. We have a lot of personal connection and love for this. But I'm also excited because I think there's going to be quite a few of our dear listeners that are not super familiar with this record. So I was wondering about that.

Yeah. You think this is under the radar at this point? I mean, in terms of, like, if you came to us for DiAngelo or for Michael Jackson and you're jazz curious, you might be a little intimidated because you're like, I got to go back to Lewis Armstrong and then Miles Davis and all. It's like, no, this is, I think, one of the, the greatest entry point jazz albums for people that are jazz curious or just great improvisatory music, black American music, especially something that's relatively recent.

I always think about this as a recent record. It's actually 18 years old. Well, I mean, if you came to the show via DiAngelo, you're going to be very happy because Roy Hargrove is the trumpeter on those famous DeAngelo records, voodoo and black Messiah. And a huge creative force on two of DeAngelo's three records. Yeah, a member of the Soul Quirium. He also was on Erica Badu's albums, Commons albums.

So let's do a little bit of a deep dive. Before we get into Ear Food, just a little bit of catch-up of where this finds Roy in his career. Because this is one of the last albums he made. Are we going to have a little bit of a mustard too? Little relish, little mustard, little ketchup. So Roy Hargrove was born in Waco, Texas in 1969.

He was raised in Dallas, and he was discovered by Witten-Marcellus in high school. Yes. At the same time, you were. And I know you've told the story before, but a little recap of how. that works. Winton, the early internet. Winton discovering Roy was a much more exciting prospect all around than discovering me,

because he's, mainly just because he's an incredible trumpeter, discovering a young trumpeter, kind of the handing of the torch, which was very much. But Winton, Winton was just like discovering and connecting a number of high school jazz, wannabe jazz players during that time in a pre-internet, pre-social media time in such an interesting way because it was literally just went and being like, here's my phone number, keep in touch if you have any questions. But then he would connect several of us. So I remember talking to Winton and I met him right around the same time.

And I said, oh, my band is doing, we're going to this thing in Dallas. It was like the N-A-J-E convention. And he's like, oh, you got to look up this trumpet player Roy Hargrove. I was like, wait, what's his name? He's like, I literally wrote his name down. And at the time, it wasn't like, give me his email address or phone over. It's like, I'll find him. In Dallas, let's do it, you know.

And I did. Walk in the ballroom. Roy Hargrove. Yeah, but I mean, Winton, among the many wonderful things he's done to prop up and propagate this music and promote the three piece. I don't know why I said that. You're just going to right now. Prop up, propagate, promote. Yeah.

To populate the music. Prognosticate. I mean, he was a connector. He was the Internet of the 80s. He was, which is interesting because Witton's a little bit of the Luddite. Got his first smartphone about six months ago, I believe. But no, he's so he connects. So when I went down to Dallas when I was in, I don't know.

I was, I think, a sophomore in high school. I went and found he was playing with his high school band, which was a really legendary place, Booker T. Washington High School for the performing and visual arts out of Dallas. Yeah, legendary high school. Eric Abu Duh was a year behind him. And actually, Erica Badoo talks about just looking up to Roy as like a musical inspiration when she was young.

Nora Jones also went to that same high school. That's right. Well, let's get into... Rob McLaugh, no, that was Houston. Same state. Pretty far away. Kendrick Scott. Nope, Houston.

Let's get into some of the early recordings of Roy Hargrove. So his first album, Diamond in the Rough, this is BHG. This features Roy on trumpet, Open Studio's own, Jeffrey Keiser. Jeffrey Keeser on piano, Charles Fambro on bass, Ralph Peterson on drums, and Ralph Moore on tenor saxophone. Oh, 1990. Roy on the trumpet, Jeffrey Kheuser on the piano, Charles Fambro on bass, Ralph Peterson on drums, Ralph Moore on saxophone. Come on. This is

This either sounds like a Bobby Watson or very Influent. Well, he was playing with Bobby Watson around this time. Bobby Watson, we haven't spoken his name enough on the pond. Woo! Man, Ralph Peterson. Yeah. And I think Roy and Jeffrey Keeser were roommates in college around this time, or maybe just before.

I don't Roy was at Berkeley. Briefly. So that's from Diamond in the Rough. That's Roy's first album as a leader. RCA Novos. Next. let's check in with Roy a couple years later, 1994. This is a great album called Tenors of Our Time,

which featured a bunch of amazing tenor saxophonist. Stanley Turntine, Johnny Griffin, Branford from Ursula, I think, Joshua Redmond. Well, on this track, Joshua Redmond, and this is mental phrasing. Cyrus Chestnut on the piano on this. Gregory Hutchison on the drums, Roddy Whitaker on the bass. I mean, this whole era of the early 90s in Roy Hargrove,

no one's doing Surrey-A-Head better than him at this point. In my opinion, like, he's just crushing these albums. It feels so genuine. Like, you can hear his love for straight-ahead jazz in a way that's not like, yeah, this is what it should be. There's no attitude about, like, this is, like, this is what's coming out of me. It's so natural. It's not dogmatic.

It's so great. And it's not like this weird throwback to, like, let's put on some old clues. No, it feels fresh. You know, cosplay, swinging jazz. But you know what I realized that it took me, I mean, actually 94, I played with Roy pretty much that whole year in his band up until beginning of 95. We didn't realize that at the time because we were all young and dumb,

but excited. Like, Roy was, he was kind of like, you know, you have a bunch of, like, good athletes on a football team, and, like, they're waiting for a quarterback to come in. Not even waiting for a coach, just waiting for somebody, like, that one piece of the puzzle. The leader. the leader, but like this out there playing,

like that's right in the middle of it. Like that was very much Roy. Not that like Greg Hutchison wasn't killing it with a bunch of other things. There was other, but like Roy, he just had this ability to bring out the best in all of us

and make it so exciting without any kind of like dogmatism or anything like that. Yeah, that's really great. And you hear it coming out of this, right? Yeah, well, and speaking of sort of his openness to all kinds of music, we're going to check in with him now in the year 2000.

This is from an album that we have talked about a lot on this show. it's DeAngelo's voodoo. Yeah. I think we did an episode on this. He's all over this. This is Spanish joint. Yeah. I think he co-wrote this.

I don't know if he got credit for it, but I think he did. Woo. Charlie Hunter. On bass and guitar. That's right. These little horn things that are happening. He doesn't... It's not like he blows for a long time on this album.

No. There's a ton of... Settle, solo stuff. It's all these... He's like the choir. Yeah. I love, man. We'll use any excuse to like...

I know. I know. Should we just listen to voodoo? We can connect voodoo with anything. No, but this is such a... I mean, like, this was such a big part of Roy progression. I can see where you're going with this and where we're going today, you know, part of his musical lineage, but like really transformative for him in terms of

he was like the ambassador, the brand ambassador between jazz, hip hop, neosol, although he didn't love that term either. Nobody loved it. But I mean, like, whatever this was, like he's the cross-pollinator, right? Yeah. And because he's on voodoo, and voodoo is now legendarily taking a long time to make and all of these great musicians, now known as sort of the Sulkarians are spending time there in the studio. Roy is one of them, and he starts to make music

with a lot of people who are hanging around there. So his first album under the R.H. Factor called Hard Groove, which is another album that we've talked about on this show, features these musicians. This is poetry featuring Q-tip, Erica Badu, Michelle and Dick Lou Cello,

Mark Carey on The Worley. Yeah. Can you picture how a melody gets started to existence? Rhythm section hits it and upholds it with persistence. Picture in the outline Again, this is a Roy Hargrove's album. Yeah. Mark Carey.

Shout on Mark Carey. I followed him in Roy's band and learned all of Roy's music from listening to Mark Harris. Yeah. Still killing him. Still killing him. I hope my little nuance is correct for this distortion. But I say why I say. And who is to say?

And this was like around 2000, 2001. And this was like around 2000? This is 2003. 2003. The overtone of funk is being driven by the students. The benevolence of Roy issue me. This jurisprudence. So that's kind of music that Roy is putting out.

And then next is the next RH Factor is 2006. This is bullshit featuring DeAngelo. Again. In the studio. Sounds like voodoo too. It does. I got to do this record, too. I know.

We got to. It's so. We got to connect the hard groove. Well, at the same year, 2006, around the same time, he released... I think the same day. It was the same day. We're going to say it was the same day.

He released an album with his quintet. Now, the whole time he's doing all this stuff with DeAngelo and Eric Madhu and all these people and common, he's still keeping his quintet alive as a touring band and he's recording. He releases a live album. Because it's classy to have something called a quintet.

Well, no, it's just another form of his expression. By the way, he's got some badass folks in his quintets. over the years. I mean, just like, he's, he's like one of those bands, like Art Blakey's band or Miles's band where, like, young musicians would come through his band over the decades. It's crazy. And this is from the album just before Ear Food called Nothing Serious with his quintet at the time. Justin Robinson on the alto saxophone, slidehampton on the trombone, Ronnie Matthews on piano, Dwayne Burneau on bass and Willie Jones, the third. Shout out Dwayne Burne.

On drums. Invitation. Yeah, I mean, this is Roy's bread, butter, margarine, everything. Seems as been live. Willie Jones third. Oh, Willie Jones, right. Oh, man, he had so many great, well, not so many, but a line of great drummers. You're talking about, well, Ralph Peterson. I don't know.

Yeah, I mean, he played with him. Greg Hutchinson, of course. I mean, that was legendary time period. Willie Jones, the third. Of course, Montez Coleman. we're going to be talking a lot about him today. Quimsy, Quincy Phillips, who I believe was the last drummer to play with him.

Well, and think about all his piano players. We mentioned Mark Carey. Yep. We mentioned Jeffrey Keeser. Peter Martin. John Fortunyce. Cyrus Chessnaut. Cymouth.

Yeah, John Batiste. I think was maybe his last. No, I was a, I want to say a Japanese guy. Oh, you're right. You're right, right, right. It was really good. But yeah, man, like incredible bands. Larry Willis.

Larry Willis. Shout out Larry Willis, the O.G. Yeah, the quintet, legendary. I'm sorry, I know we're forgetting some people. Yeah, yeah. There's a ton of, in fact, after Roy passed away in 2018, there were a bunch of concerts. All over the country and all over the world, actually,

with people who had played with them. Weren't you involved in one in Chicago? Yeah, yeah, with Nicholas Payton. I mean, you know, like Roy was really somebody, I mean, we just lost him too early. Did he even make it to 50? No, 49. 49.

What a, I mean, it's still like that one, a number of us that were in his orb and, you know, still talk about this when we get together. And there was a lot of, you know, back and forth. It just hurts. It hurts not only for him, you know, as a person, as a son, as a father, as a brother, but for all of us as our musical brother. And, like, they come up at the same time when you, of course, when you lose any, I mean, Dwayne Burner, we mentioned.

We lost him even earlier. He was, I mean, I got a chance to play with him when we were 20 years old, but he Carter incredible force in the music. But when you lose somebody like Roy that was such a conduit for transformation in the music, and I think we're going to see that in particular with this, what you just played us, but also with ear food today. But I can't tell you how many musical relationships that even more importantly led to life relationships that Roy was somehow the kind of, he wasn't the kind of guy who was like, hey, Peter, I want you to meet that. No, he would just go into different situations with different bands and assemble people or go to a jam

session. But somehow he was always at the center of something extraordinary, musically happening. I mean, not every single note, every minute, I'm not saying, but I mean, like, you look at these different bands and you look at the people that came away. But I mean, like, I remember meeting Ron Blake, who, you know, is one of the most, you know, precious people on the world to me now later on. Amazing music. You know, because Roy asked me to come in. Yeah. And Greg, I mean, Greg I knew before. Greg actually brought me into the full. So there's all these different layers. Yeah. And so when you lose somebody like that, it's, you know, it's. It stings.

It stings hard, you know. Yeah. Well, this brings this to ear food. So this is recorded in 2007, released in 2008. And I think one piano player we just left off the list there was the great Gerald Clayton. Oh, yeah, he stopped in a little bit. I mean, maybe the, like, one thing we're going to percolate on a little bit, let's put a pin in it for a minute. But like, is this the best Roy band of all time?

This is, got to be in the conversation. Yeah. This episode of You'll Hear it is brought to you by Open Studio for Musicians. looking for more confidence they're playing right now is the best time to join Open Studio Pro. Peter, those are our live classes. Our live classes are amazing global community of folks trying to live a more musical

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OpenSudiojazz.com. Joe Clayton starts it off here with Cedar Walton's tune, I'm not so sure. Feel. Tess. Oh. Yeah. Joe Clayton eats this album.

What he's playing and what he's not playing. Montez, too. Man, I would have overplayed that shit. Oh Now the introduction, Montez's introduction of that backbeat there Yeah That's a theme on this record It is

That's the theme And the way he dances around Justin Robinson again on this album Alto Saxophone flute Dan Boler on the bass And the great Montez Coleman RIP Montes So this record

Can we listen to just the beginning And can we marinate on just It's our show We could do whatever we want Yeah No before you play I want it like we always talk about like great starts to records, great opening tunes, great.

This, I'm sorry, am I going to put a superlative on top of a superlative? Please. I may. This is what shows all about, man. I think that the way that the rhythm section play, so Gerald Clayton, Denton Bowler, and Montez Coleman. So Montez, we both played with a lot. He was in your group. You guys had a trio.

We had all had musical relationships, but you had a very close musical relationship later on from this. I played with him some before this during this period. One of just the sweetest humans, you know, we've been around. 100%. And another brother that we lost, you know, way too soon. So just, it's hard to even put those feelings aside in a way. But to be objective and listen to this. And then Gerald Clayton, who was only 23, 22, when this record came out.

But I remember when he was in this band. He was the highlight of this band. I mean, he really was. Gerald. Yeah. Just like. But, I mean, Montez was like the, I mean, it's such a corny thing to say he was the engine of the band, the drummer.

But, I mean, he was like the soul of the band. Montez is playing his pure joy. Pure joy. Anybody who's ever played with him or seen him play live knows that it's all coming from a place of pure joy for him all the time. And it just comes out in the music. But I just think in this introduction, like the choices that they made, and I've been on a lot of these sessions where you're just like, okay, let's play, because this was a really well-tuned band.

This was not like calling some guys. This was a touring band. They're on the road all the time. Yeah, this was not a heavy lift. but the choices that they make right from this introduction to me set the table for this record in a way where it's like, damn, the level's high, but I mean, I would challenge anyone to find any, not only any fault, like they're playing so little, but then so much.

Like some of the little details you're going to hear Montez do already. It's like way more than you should be able to get away with so soon in it. And then what Gerald doesn't play, but that little bit of thing that he jumps ahead. So now that I've piano sprained it, let's listen to it again. And it's just like a train coming up on you. Oh. Yeah, the amount of listening that's going on. The amount of swing that's happening between everybody.

Yeah, and it's just effort. This is no like... Man, that's a perfect introduction. Also, just want to give a shout out here to Al Schmidt and Steve Genowick. Gene Wick. No, Genowick. Yeah. Because the album sounds...

Yeah. And I was thinking back... Maybe the best sounding album for this time. I wouldn't argue with you. I would say of... I would put this in a top ten jazz... Sonic experiences. Best engineered records,

which... It's so easy for us to go back and be like, well, nine of those records were in 1959. Hello, my darling! But I mean, you know, to do this later on when we felt like are great sounding jazz records finished? No.

Yeah, what I was going to say is exactly that, Peter. you nailed it. It's like, this feels modern, the sound of it. Yeah. It feels modern, contemporary, but still has the soul of a record from 1959. Yes. Like it has the feeling of spontaneity, of roominess.

Right. But it's got a little bit more clarity. A little bit more clarity on all that. And it's got some things that they balanced out so well in the mix, because obviously this is recorded live. Gerald's copying? Just even the reverb on Royce drop it. Yeah.

Just enough. This is what I would say is uneven. The saxophone and trumpet reverb is quite a bit more than the rhythm section. Like that piano is very direct. And like the drums are... But man, with the mix, it works, you know? And this was recorded at Capitol Studios in L.A. Just, again, the level of listening that's going on, like the interaction between Gerald and Montez.

I mean, we both know that experience. Like, you know, if... I mean, I learned so much having Montez in the trio for... I think eight years we played together, often, not even off and on, like every week all the time. And with the incredible Bob DeBoo on the base as well. And what I learned,

I learned so much, but the biggest thing was just like, he's always listening. He's always making you sound better. And he's always making everything swing and feel good. And you just wanted to raise yourself to that level. Absolutely. With a player like that.

I moved back to St. Louis in 2005, after like 20 plus years in New Orleans in New York. And we weren't sure if we were going to stay or go back to New Orleans. And Montez, it was right around the time when he was moving back, maybe a little bit after.

Like, he was here. But I remember seeing him and talking to him. I knew him, but I didn't know him well. We had played together some in the years, do some Max Jazz stuff, which I think is when you guys first came together, maybe, too. Yeah, we made a Max Jazz album in, like, 2005 or something.

Right. But I remember, like, he was like, no, I'm going to mostly be in St. Louis. And I was kind of like, oh okay I think I'm cool to stay like he had this like I always had such a and this before I really knew him personally became friends with him it just gave me

you know like sometimes if you're not in New York or New Orleans or like Chicago you know like the big epicenters of the music like he was so good that you felt like and this before I knew you there's no shade on you or Bob or actually I don't even know if Bob was here yet not yet yeah but I was just detached

from the because all the guys I came up with there were great here were gone yeah or you know I was like as Willie Akins was still a You just didn't know anybody. I didn't know anybody. And I was like, Montez's like, no, I'm St. Louis. I was like, whew. Somebody.

My wife is kind of like, let's check out the schools. And to make sure everything. I'm like, who cares? Montez is in town. We're going to be good. Because, you know, he's just, and you know, from playing with him even better than me, you play with him so much. It's like he's got that ability very much like Roy to like elevate you.

Yeah. If you're willing, like it's like the boat kind of, you know, the water raises it for everybody. And he does it in such a, a, did it in such. such a generous way. We've been dancing around a bit, but Montez did pass away in January of 2022 at the age of 48, which is the worst thing.

I know. Almost the same as Roy. Yeah, it's just horrible. Yep. Next up is Roy original called Brown. I love this song so much. Great second track. Oh, so great. And then it's like, okay.

We're not backbeat and heavy. Are we like a little boss of Nova a little, what's going on? Nice. Roy's harmonic mastery. Man, but he knew how to like set up the form. We talked about it on all of the DeAngelo stuff, but he's a master at melody too. Like his melody writing. Imminently melodic player.

Musician. Inevitable melodies, things that feel inevitable. Also, this is doing something. that I think Roy and Justin saxophone trumpet like playing in unison and they're going to diverge and that's a great piano sound

great pianos too yeah I mean even though Gerald Clayton's would you say 23 here yeah he has an old soul like he does oh totally and is playing and if you meet him personally feels this is right around the time I met him and I remember it might have been the year

before at Monterey Jazz Fest I remember being kind of jealous of him, even though I was like, that's great, he's playing with Roy. Right on the same age I did, actually. Yeah. But I was like, John Clayton, I'd known John Clayton for a while. His father. It's his father.

Yeah. Who's one of like the greatest bass players and greatest dudes in music, greatest men. Arrangers. A ranger. And like super genuine. I mean, generous. And like, man, I mean, I love my dad's great. Yeah.

But John Clayton's really. Bill's no slouch. But Bill didn't write Whitney Houston's National Anthem Arrangements for the Star Spanagel Badder for the Super Bowl. But I was just like, damn, Gerald got that. I mean, I've been a fan of him ever say. It's so fun to see him now kind of approaching kind of middle-aged piano done. Yeah. He's one of the best, man.

One of many musicians coming out of Roy's bands, had a stellar solo career on his own, made a big name for himself. It was a great solo. Man, Roy's playing so stylized. and by this time in his career It's got that mute I won't dare try to guess what the mute is Because every time I try to guess a trumpet mute on this show

I fall on my face Nobody corrects you in the comments, do they? They would never That was not a stemless harmon mute That was a harmon mute Our trumpet player friends put in the I think that was a cup mute by the chat I think it was

He said cup mute Was it? No, no no Peter said it No put in the chat what the mute is on Brown It's a coupe mute Justin Robinson there Okay, next up is the third trip I just wanted, sorry, finish

because we're going to come back because I want you to remind me when we hear it. Justin and Roy's ability to play lines together. Like, that's from, really, I would say a small group of tenor, like you talk about Miles and Wayne Shorter.

They're pretty good at that. Roy and Ron Blake, I love the way they play. They sound great to go. Yeah, but Justin and Roy, like Justin knew how to match. I mean, there was a lot of interoperability, I guess.

What does that mean? I don't know. It's not a cool. But it's just like... Interoperability? Yeah. You know what I'm saying? You know, I'm saying?

You know, symbiotic interoperability, you know? Yeah, yeah. We're going to... They sound good to get. They... We synergized this. Yeah. And then let's circle back.

Okay. Well, okay. Let's put a pin in it. Let's put a pin in it because this next track is going to prove your point. Yep. Oh, going straight to the hit, huh? Number three.

But this is them, I think, Justin and Roy, this is them at their best. Check out the way. Check out the way Montes sneaks in on this. Chaco. Man, he's like, he establishes groove dominance immediately. This is St. Denis. It's a fun place.

It's a bona fide hit. It's become a jazz standard. Yeah, he would always say. Yeah, he would always say. So he explained, you know, it's a neighbor and person. Then he always said, it's a fun place. Yeah, this is called the Jam Sessions. Yeah.

This is a standard now. I mean, Roy wrote a couple of really simple, melodic, groovy tunes like this, like, very quickly. It wasn't, like, a huge part of his thing. Obviously, this is probably his biggest hit from doing that. But you see why it is. Because he could understand those. So, Gerald's inside the piano here, muting the strings. This moment here.

comes back to it. Lay back. And Kaz catches it? Catches right on it, man. Wait, wait, I want to back it up. Because not only does he catch it, he answers it. Yeah. Check it out.

So do it again. Lay it back. Check it. That was kind of nasty. Slow burn. Man, it's kind of, it's a challenge to play such an interesting and dynamic storytelling solo over these very simple changes. Yeah.

This is a challenging tune actually You're right Man Montez Connected those two solos so nicely So that's a Royism right there Where he's kind of floating above He's always done that from when I first heard him Man all these solos

Just like hit so hard Ah come on Move it over, move it in This is maybe not even Maybe not even top ten of solos of him on this tune Yeah, there's some live versions. Go ahead, push the tempo a little bit. Yeah, we should mention early YouTube days.

Yeah. There was a bootleg live version of this from a DVD they made that was like viral on early YouTube. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's from the New Morning Jazz Club in Paris. For whatever reason, someone was like, no, we can't have that available for people to like. So they pulled it down. And then it's back up now. You can see it.

Oh, yeah, you can find it now. Okay. Our relationship to IP has changed. quite a bit since 2007. I think this is Justin's best solo. It's good. I mean, I think I always felt like on these versions when I hear it, look, it's hard to solo after Roy.

You know what I mean? It's hard to solo after Gerald. I mean, you know, it's, I think that Justin did such a great job of, like, infusing his personality. I mean, he's probably the longest tenured, um, player ever in Roy's bands. Well, and it's a... And was such a soul-made for him,

trumpet saxophone. Well, I was going to say, it's a wise move for Roy, because it's a little bit... It's a little bit fire and ice, oil and vinegar. It's just two different. Miles was so good at that as well.

Right. Choosing people to contrast him. Yeah. And it's almost like Justin's more like the George Coleman to Miles as opposed to the Wayne Schorter or the John Coltrane. Yeah.

But George Coleman was great. I mean, that's a good place to me. Next up, this is a tune by Lou Marini called Starter. Can I have a cigarette first after that tune? No. You want a fridge, fridge cigarette

Diet Coke Frigarette And you're making up all kinds of new words today This is almost like It's amazing Their articulation The matching The intimation between Justin and Roy

This feels like something out of like 70s cinema Yeah And it's got like you know shades of the Maiden Boyge Herbie Hancock groove Oh it's just opening And on like a lot of of these tunes, these are relative for a jazz album, short tracks somewhat.

This one, I think, is a little longer. This is, I think, the longest one, yeah. But it's a long time. But it's like almost three minutes before it gets to solo. So patient. It's so good, man. Yeah, you mentioned the unison of them together is so, it's like a new instrument. Yeah.

You know, it's like its own instrument. And the mix on this, I mean, Al Schmidt was a legend for a reason, man. It's perfect. He put his foot up in this mix. It's perfect. You mentioned things they're not playing. Like, Tess is so restrained, just playing. Well, I'm kind of glad you cut it off there

because we're going to come back for an apex moment. I thought so. Don't even... Next track, Joy is sorrow en masse. This was one of Montez's favorite from this album, actually. Roy could write a ballad. Damn. Found that diminished thing?

I know exactly to do that, but I didn't sound like that when I do it. It would be close. Isn't that pretty? See, a thing about Roy, he was like, kind of at that genius nerd level with harmony. Like, he played piano really well. Yeah. He knew all these tunes and, like, changes and, like,

a play strip by ear, but he knew how to write this. He was, like, but he was just a cool dude, and he had a great sense of, like, groove and joy. Yeah. So, like, that saved him from being just, like, another trumpet jazz nerd. You know what I mean? Because he's so good, he could have been that, you know?

He was... Like, you hear those elements in the music, it's like, a cool dude. is an understatement. He was incredible, stylish person. Yeah. Had great taste

in music and other things. Yeah. But he was so focused, too, that had he not had that other things, he would have been jazz nerdy in a way that would have been less interested. He kind of had the complete human package, which was good.

He was an artist. Yeah. Oh. Yeah, Montez loved this, too. And it's... Yeah, just gorgeous. When the playing and the writing can kind of transcend,

like, this could have fallen, into, and there's other Roy ballads I remember, and some stuff that I think was never released, I remember recording with them, and just playing, like, I mean, he wrote so much stuff, like, so fast, so, so much great stuff. But it can be like,

oh, I'm writing a great American songbook style ballad. You know what I mean? And so, like, let's go, let's put on some old clothes and go back to the 50s, the good old days, and, which apparently we're not as great as we remember. But, you know what I'm saying? Like he, it was so up to date, something about it.

There was a nostalgia there and yes, it's like an otherworldliness of it. But to me, it never had that like, that kind of throwback kind of vibe. Absolutely. Which can be a little bit corny sometimes. It was so authentically him and the music that he was making. And then like, again, to his credit, he's doing all of these other things. He's doing the DeAngelo thing and the Coquarens thing. And bringing that into his own music, he's got the R.H factor.

It's like it's obvious. It's not just like a throwback costume he's putting all. on. It's just music that means something to him. But it wasn't like he had he wasn't like he's like, okay, I got this ballad, but he's like, okay, Montez play like a hip hop beat underneath it. So it doesn't I mean, Montez is like, you know,

sweeping, brushes. Everything is very, but there's these little like harmonic Royisms that are put in there and melodic approaches. That he doesn't, it's never like, oh, let me, you know, he doesn't force anything into something like, because a lot of people, I remember when this record came out, it was like, oh, finally Roy's really going back to like, a straight-ahead record.

But the thing is, there's only, I think we're about to hear one. Yeah, next, there's only two tunes on this that are actually straight-ahead swing in, yeah, yeah, out of 13 tracks. Yeah.

So it's kind of a thing that he pulled off, and there's a lot of backbeat stuff, a lot of groove stuff, a lot of things he's pulling, and it's such an authentic way that you don't notice. But people thought that because they were like, oh, this is his straight-ahead group.

This is an R-H-factor. But this, in a lot of ways, this is not just like Roy playing standards. You know what I mean? No, not at all. It doesn't feel like that. And this is another, I think it's because also it's mostly originals. Yeah.

And this is another one. Yeah, but there's enough other things. Yeah. But it's programmed in a way that's like a story. Hey, everyone, taking a break real quick. We throw around a lot of music theory terms here in the show. If you're Googling things like, what is a triad? Hold on.

I'm Googling. What is a triad? What is a Lidian? How do you spell Lidium? You know how to play that, bro. Good news. We have all the answers for you in the liner notes. You'll find the liner notes.

companion guide with clear, simple explanations of the contents we explore in this episode, in the episode description. Download the liner notes for this episode for free today. This is another Roy Hargo original called The Stinger. Yeah. Now we're swinging. But we're halfway through the record before we're tipping, right? Ah, four. Come on. He knew how to use that four. I mean, Dan Bowler and Montezed. This is, this. This is right in the wheel. I mean, all of this stuff is, but this is like, come on now.

Gerald. Justin, of course. That's another Roy's. Be did, do, be, do, be, do. Okay, so can you pause for just a second? That last little harmonic thing, and it only comes at the end there, those three chords. This is an example of what I'm saying.

Like, Roy had this, his harmonic ingenuity was, like, very advanced. Yeah. And so he'll throw these little things in, but he never did as many as he could, which would push it into nerddom that most your GP, your general population does not want to hear. But he knew how to put it a little bit in there.

Just enough. Yeah, so if you pack that last little A section. This next one. Oh, no, it's after the song. That. Yeah. That's the only time he does it. And it's right at the right place, too.

Setting up a solo. Yeah, it's so cool. So it's like, as opposed to like, oh, okay, we know you know harmony. He just pulls it out of the back pocket right as it goes into the solo. I mean, that's the mark of a great composer, right? Is using that stuff where it's most effective, not just for the sake of it. And the mark of a great jazz nerd is overusing it when it's not as effective.

Putting as much of it in as possible. Justin. You don't have a problem swinging. It's interesting. Like, Danton is a little ahead on top of Montez on the beat. I always think about Montez. Because a lot of times when I play with him. He was pushing a little.

Yeah, but he's very flexible in terms of like feeling it. He's so good at that. Of taking your solo to that place you're going on. This is the Harmon Me, by the way. Harmon. From the Harmon Company of Paris. That I recognize. Stem or no stem?

Can we not do this? Man. Roy's compositional style. Shout up Bobby Watson. Big influence on him. Cedar Walton, of course. We heard the Cedar Walt. Roy played with Cedar

huge influences Larry Willis too which we're going to get to a Larry Willis tune yeah but I think having this track in the middle of the record we always talk about like what's the balance what's the what's the apex place

but going to like the most straight ahead swing on the record oh all the solos on this is so good we always talk about get back to swing like we did in the 90s, this might be the time, man. 2008? What is it? This sounds so good, too, doesn't it?

Man. I mean, Al Schmidt, this is a sex tent. This is not a quintet. Oh. Oh, Gerald. I love... So, I know Gerald a little bit. Like, he probably would listen to this and be like, oh, it was okay.

Yeah. But, like, man, this shit is badass. It is... I mean, he's gone on to amazing things, and I love, like, his trio at the vanguard. It's great hearing him on this. Yeah, but it's like there's something about when you're at that early mid-20s

and like he's playing some Kenny Kirkland stuff. He's reaching. Yeah, he's throwing some like, he's not like all together in terms of this is my finalized style, but man, he's swinging his ass off. And playing the right shit at the right time. I love hearing everybody on the Stinger

because they're playing, no one's over playing. No. Like, phrases are short. Like listen to all those solos again, like what Gerald was doing. Phrases are short. He's going in between like playing chords

and playing, long lines. You know who would have overplayed on this? Who's that? Peter Martin. You know that. You know I would.

I would have. I would have. On purpose. But no, everybody's playing so beautifully. And again, Montez is like, is there to give you some stuff so that you can just do your thing

and he's going to make it. But you remember how Montes was? Like, I love the way you phrase that to get, like he was so supportive and giving and challenging when you're playing. Yeah. If you were receptive to it.

Now, this is obviously a receptive group, right? Yeah. Right, right. You remember, like, if it wasn't happening, he would just shut down. He'd be like, oh, come on. He's just like, you're just going to get the quarter note. And listen, world-class quarter-note. Yeah, it's going to sound good.

It's going to be great. But you don't deserve more than that. You're not getting the stinger kind of stuff. There ain't nothing here for you. Next up is another Roy original called Ruge. This is an interesting track. This is the real short one, right? Yeah, two minutes and 45 seconds.

He wrote a bunch of tunes like this. This is beautiful, though. Out of time, flowy. Gerald Clayton doing some lovely arpeggios. Now we're in. Yeah, this is like Roy connecting simple melodies with really interesting and exploratory harmony, right? Making those pivot points and connections.

And again, him and Justin Robinson so in sync, Simpedigo. The interoperability off the charts. Interoperability is really off the charts, Peter. That's true. Okay. This is one of the best engineers. record jazz records of all time i'd say top 10 i'm going hot take i'm going hot five you think so you

think it's in top five i'm going hot five okay real quick what's your top five best engineered sounding jazz i mean kind of blue of i know that that's a but that's a damn good sounding record the damn good sounding record the church is the altar um i think uh well you tell me years let's let's go back and forth because i'm going to forget some sure sure so kind of blue yeah i think bill evans explorations, right? So we're in like 1959-ish territory here. I like Live at the Village Vanguard,

Bill Evans, or Waltz for Debbie. Those are good, but I have another Village Vanguard. Those are some of the best Van Gogh. Sonny Rollins, a Knight at the Village Vanguard is my favorite sounding Village Vanguard, even though there's no piano. But are those records great engineered

records? I almost feel like that's another category. Like, this is at Capitol Records, and I've recorded there before, and it's a great room, but it's a big room. Hold on. There's so much, you know. I said, I've got to get out of the 50s.

Yeah, get out of the 50s. Yeah, you have to get out of. 1959. I'm going to put this one up there. This will be number four. I think you're right. I think this is one of the greatest sounding like acoustic jazz albums of all time. And I'm going to put, you know what? I'm going to put, this is going to blow your mind. Aaron Park's Mysterious Traveler. You ever heard that album? The Blue Note album. Aaron Park's Mysterious Traveler, one of the greatest sounding piano touches, performances. The sound of it is unbelievable. That just comes to mind.

Yeah. No, that's more than valid for sure. I was just thinking songbook by Candy Garrett. That's a great call. You know, we always think about like the playing, the music, the interoperability of the tunes, the simpatico. The interoperability? Why not? The flow, the flow.

But I mean, the sound on it, like, that's the thing. Like, especially in jazz, it's easier for us to sort of just say, oh, that playing was great or whatever. But as we've challenged before with different piano sounds, when it's a little bit off, it's just a lot of work to get in there. There's some, too, like, even if you go to, like, Maiden Voyage. I was going to say, so any of the early 60s. Especially for the... Blue Nodes stuff.

The horns always sound great. Would you put, like, would you put, like, Blue Train or Love Supreme or any of those Cold Train albums in there? Yeah. I mean, Love Supreme is... The Impulse ones? It's great. Crescent? So great.

Black Codes? You think Black Codes is one of the? Crescent and Love Supreme. Like the impulse stuff, even with the quibble bits that I have with the piano on those, I don't know, they fit so good. Also ballads, you know, Johnny Hartman, Duke Allington. I mean, yeah, great. So black codes. Are we not putting any ECM on this either?

Oh, God, we got to. Standards volume two. So now we're like a 20 favorite. I know. Facing you. I know. That's on my top five. That's a weird one.

That's a weird sound. No, but it's great. So weird and great. It's weird and great. You don't like weird stuff? I like the album, but it's weird. Yeah. It's great.

Okay. Next up is Mr. But I'm off-base, put this in the top five? Not at all. Okay. I think it deserves it. Okay. Next up is Mr. Clean by Weldon Irving, Jr.

Well-Ding, sorry, Welding Irvine, Jr. Yeah. Pardon me, Weldon. Great tune. Danton Boulder, unsung hero of this record? Oh. Got a great sound, Dan Buller. Yeah.

I mean, he's laying it down. That Albert Rotunda vibes, right? It's like a kind of nasty mean shuffle a little bit, right? Stuff like this. This may be the most overt sort of Miles' influence on Roy. Like, we never think about, like, this is kind of water babies, directions, Milesy. But I never think, I mean, Roy was very influenced by Miles, like an Ultramal player.

But I never think about him as a Miles first kind of, you know. I'm here this more as a Freddy. Well, Freddy for sure. For Freddie for sure. But I mean, he didn't have that... The 70s, Freddie was on. CGI. CGI. Yeah, yeah.

Feels like that to me. Yeah. Peter. Yes. Great signing albums. Yeah. Amorosa. Jean-Gilberto.

Oh, yeah. That kind of stuff. Yeah. That's in my way. There's a lot of movies. Another Roy Hargrove original style. Yeah. Yeah, this is the only other swinger.

Harmony. Dan Bowler's playing the right shit. As is Gerald playing. This is very reminiscent of like his early 90s style of riding Man, I love Ted's shuffle Yeah, sneaking it in So good Montez was such an art Blakey head too

That he had one of those incredibly driving Absolutely. That's a St. Louis thing too, by the way For sure. Because it's kind of built into every medium swing Potentially, you know what I mean? Oh, he would put it on every medium swing. And like breaking up underneath the solos

With the form, the rhythmic form with the chords and then you go back to your swing oh so great hey filling stuff out man just going crazy that incredible stuff

another Roy original divine yeah so man just gorgeous that this tune was actually rework from something he wrote back in the mid-90s I remember I was playing

like this was in the book that you guys had at one point because he used to move stuff around you know I mean, this is as good as a jazz album can sound, right? Yeah. That's, like, amazing. Yeah.

Like, compositionally, the tone of his playing, Montez's brushwork. And then placing this in, this far into the record, like, this is the most kind of harmonically explorative he's gotten, you know, which is such a great place to put it. And then, but to layer it in with this beautiful ballad and just supple playing all around general. I have more on that, but let's, I'm going to save it for the categories that are coming up. next. Next up, this is a, you mentioned Larry Willis as an influence on his composition. This is a Larry Willis composition called To Wisdom the Prize.

Ha. I remember hearing Larry Willis play this. The intro. All the details. This is very like New York 80s vibe, you know, compositionally. Let's go up time to Mick Hales. It does feel like it's from a more

sophisticated time. It's very sophisticated, right? where every bar had carpet and smelled like cigarette smoke. That's right. Yeah. But any moment Steve Wilson's going to walk and just slam out of a solo. Wow, Wilsonian. Is that Mokra Miller's for? Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, this is very Bradley's. This has been played at Bradley's. What a time. All right, a couple more tracks. I love this next track. This is the Kurt Wild tune. Okay, before you play it. Yes, sir.

Can we jump to the categories? Because this is actually my desert island. track. This next one. Yeah. So this is Speaklo. Yeah. And this is your Desert Island track.

Yeah. Am I? No, let's do it because actually my... Shoot my shot too early? No, my Desert Island track is coming up after this. Oh, okay. Perfect. Yeah.

So this is the... I mean, this is in the real book. I love this tune. You're going to be shocked when I tell you the other version that's number two to this. It was used to be number one, but this is my number one version of this tune. I have another version that we can listen to, too. Here's Roy's version. This is number one for me.

Gerald did that perfectly Right into it Unbelievable unbelievable The time is really This is a Betty Carter tempo Shirley Hornisms Roy said In an interview

That this, that he learned this tune From this version Sarah Vaughan live in Live in Mr. Kelly's, right? London House, Chicago Oh, London House, right 1950s. Damn, Chicago had some type of clubs.

Time is it. I mean, you can hear it directly. Yeah, for sure. No, there was another thing. He loved Sarah Vaughn. It was a couple of twos we used to do. I remember he hit me to the Live of Mr. Kelly's record. And the, oh, that was such a great period.

Yeah, so Roy could connect. Keep going. I'm looking at Babs right now. Oh, it is? This is your favorite? No, Roy's is my favorite, but this is one of my. I like, I'm not a huge barber-strandist friend, but I love the way she sings. I like this, actually.

It's a great tune. Kurt Vile. Yeah. Underrated. Yeah. Okay. My Desert Island track, if we're now on categories, is the ultimate track. Bring it on Home to Me famously by Sam Cook.

I just love this song. Yeah. I sing this song to myself all the time. And a strange little play live. Yeah. Is it from a live performance in Austria? What's the name of the city? It's from Gleisdorf.

Gleistorf. Well, I'm not going to yell it at you. Am I yelling? You spit at me? Dang. Oh. I... Roy ended a lot of his gigs on this.

It's a cool thing. Yeah. That call and response. I would really... I would forego a good chunk of my salary to do a Sam Cooke episode at some point. That would be nice. I love Sam Cooke. Sam Cook.

Sam Cook. Sam Cook and the quartets and then the interoperability. And then all the soul stuff obviously is just like unreal. Okay. So that's your desert island. That's my desert island.

Yeah, so Roy plays a lot at the end of his or even like before and then he'd come back and do boo do booby-de-booty booty-booty. He'd sing it as like the encore. Cool. Apex Moment. Starmaker, go to like 230. The transition. So we're all the way two and a half minutes.

We're stopping out to the solo. This beautiful unison line. That transition. It's amazing. Can we listen to it one more time? Go back just a little more because I want to just... It's so you're lulled into this place, right? And what Montez does and everybody else just gets out the way

and the way Roy comes in. Also this pedal that happens here. The setup. It's really silence, but the music's in the air, right? Sharp 5 resolves But the transition It's so unsettled, right? The whole universe in that rim shot

I don't blame you Mine is going to be on the track right before it Strausberg but it's The start of Gerald Clayton's solo I think it's one of the best beginnings of a solo This century You're not the only one that loves this, by the way All the muted string stuff

You've got to be kind of Careful with the muted string stuff. I know. I know. But he comes out. Some club owners don't like you put in your greasy hands all up in the piano.

At least that's what they've told me. Can I play you something? Yeah, sure. Okay, I'm not on my... I might need you to vamp a little bit because I'm not on my home computer here. Your home computer? Do you have your...

I have to do a little searching, so can you talk to the good folks? What is it that you love so much about that? Well, so, okay, so the muted strings are. He's reaching in with his left hand to mute... the piano strings. Now, for those of you who don't know, it's kind of challenging because in that range of the piano, there are actually three strings that cause one note to play. So

you have to mute all three of the strings. Right. And then as you move around the piano, you have to move your hand up and down. Now, he's also doing this thing where, like, he hits the note and then he comes down real fast on the strings with his hand. So it's like this, kind of sound. Yeah. Like there's a natural attack, but then he chokes it. Right. You know, and it's just something that, like, we've all heard a piano, but you've never heard a piano like that. Yeah, and I think most people would be like, wow, that's like, there's such a direct connection to the listener because the rhythmic attenuation is heightened potentially, right? But you're also like, wait, what's going on? You know, but then it's so melodic.

Okay, so you're not the only one who loves that. I want to play something. So other people have done versions of this. Is this a cappella? Acafabulous. He's not sold yet. He's not sold yet. Peter, what do we do it?

You play Barbara Strassel's version of Everybody's so shiny That young man's wearing suspenders and a bowtie Look at his hair, perfectly quopped Yeah, this has the potential to be really corny, right? Take a little time to think of you and me Potential? That's pretty good, right?

Maybe think about the places that you want to see These are, I believe, high schoolers. Really? Maybe college level. They're young. Maybe college. Imagine all the things I like to do it. But it's got the little stuff.

He's got the copying in there. The way to get to the piano song, that's going to blow your mind. Tell me what you need to go The name of the group is syncopation But instead of an A inpatient, it's the number eight I said, Aca Fabulous But check it out Oh, here come the boys

Boys in the Hood Wow Give the rhythm section some Is this from an episode of Glee? This is the other version of his solo. Oh, from the new morning, yeah. They play, I mean, they sing the whole. They play, I mean, they sing the whole.

Gerald Clayton's solo. That's pretty great, actually. Oh, come on. There's dancing there going on a cycle. But I mean, okay, so I... I don't mean to slang up a cappella groups that much, but it is inherently kind of funny. You're not a pitch perfect household?

We are not a pitch perfect household. We are not a pitch perfect household. We put down all accoutrements when one of those comes on cable TV, my friend. What a journey this has been, Peter. When I first saw this, I texted Gerald and I was like, I'm sure you've seen this, but this is so cool. And he was like, wow, that's cool. I never saw that.

And that was it. I thought it was going to be more like, you know, he was like, oh, okay, cool. Anyway. Yeah, I mean, well, you're texting the man, an acapella version of his solo. I would love that if somebody said that to me. Oh, well, you heard it here first, syncopation. Hit up a Peter Martin solo. I recommend emotion of motion or Broadmoor's.

He's probably gristled 40-year-olds by now. Solo on St. Thomas from Spirit of the Moment. Let's hear it. Okay. Speaking of Akutramans, Peter, what you got, Akutramonts for the album cover? We're adding some categories back in. So apologies to produce CEL clap.

We're going to do some of our... Feel clap! Look at me! You really are. Pitch Perfect. I'm a pitch perfect. I have nine because I think

this is one of his Roy's best album covers. Like the shot of him, it's like a very brown cover, the shot of him about to get on a stage, obviously. Really good liner notes on this too.

Great liner notes. It's a CD. I don't even know if there is an LP version. And then the DVD of the tour from this. I'll give it a 9-2. And I think that the album, too, it's just like the music.

It's not throwback. It's like very, you know, modern for the time. Quibble bits. You have any quibble bits? I have one. I think the album might be a little too long. 13 tunes.

I would either do, and this is hard. Which tune do you hate that you want to take out? The thing is I really love all the tunes, but I was thinking as I was thinking about this, like either it could be 10 tunes instead of 13, or it's two albums. Like he could have done an album of like Roy Hargrove Quintet ballads.

There's so many ballads on it, it could have been a ballads album, and then do like the grooving and straight-ahead stuff on a whole other album. And I think it could have been actually enough for two albums. Because it's interesting. I would, I don't think that's a quibble bit for me. You could say it's, so you want to take off the last tune, perhaps? Definitely not. No, no, that's the thing.

I can't really think of this. Speak low I want to keep. To wisdom, the prize I want to keep. Divine, style. Like, I want to keep all of them. To me, this record is, is a ballad record already. Because there's more ballads than there's any,

like as a genre, as a, you know, type of tunes. It is, but that's, I think that's... You could have done one less ballad maybe? In the first three songs, he's setting us up. Like, think about that. I'm not so sure, Brown, which is that sort of like straight eighth, and then Strasbourg, and you're like, oh, okay, this is a groovy album.

Right. You know what I mean? But if everything's grooving, then nothing's grooving. I agree. I agree, but I think... I just wonder if maybe this was like... They made an album of, you know, the seven ballads and then the six. Yeah, see, I don't ever like those all, I mean, well, John Coltrane ballads.

But that's not all ballads. They don't play them all in a ballad style. Okay. What do you think? You got any quibald bits? I don't, because I love this record. Do you have any up next? Like, what would you put up next on this?

I have one, which is Nicholas Payton's Peyton Place. That's a great one. Favorite. Well, I see the Carter 3 by Lou Wayne. Amilly, Amelie, Amelie. When are we doing some Lil Wayne? When are we going back to New Orleans? I would love to do some Lil Wayne,

but also if we could do the Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes, which is also on this. Oh, that is all that good. It's almost fall. What about a little Taylor Swift? Fearless. I don't know that one. Are you afraid of it?

Taylor, did you say Swift? Yeah. So we got up next, we got quibble bits. We got a kutche maus, snobometer. I got a three. Okay, if you're on the YouTube, you saw that. The fear, the fearless fly. He was not a fearless flyer.

He was a whimsical fear came across his eyes. if you're listening. Now it's an unconfident sneer. What do you think? I'm going with a number I've never done on here before. 7.5. 7.5.

Yeah. How are we always polar opposites? I mean, we're literally polar opposites. I think this is kind of a snobby record. It's accessible. That's different than snobby. But it's not super snobby, but it's not in the middle.

I'm sick of the fives. I'm not doing that. It's obviously not a 10. But it's got a little snob appeal. Okay. Awkward silence. I don't know. I don't understand how you,

look at the snobometer because I don't understand how you do this had like the video of this was like literally a viral video but that's not yeah but the record yeah if you say just that that video something can be snobby and popular his most popular album

you know snobby and popular okay okay that's where we differ is this better than KOB no I said maybe equal question mark I unfortunately don't think it is okay so KLB is just is the is the mountaintop

I'm starting to think it may not be it's not exactly the mountain top But it's a great gauge for like ultimate greatness. It does sound great. Now that I'm remembering. It does sound really good. But also remember, KO.B. has... Great playing.

Miles, Coltrane, Cannonball, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cowell. Like, and every song. Yeah. And talk about tight. Like, it's five songs. It's great. And then if you weren't sure, I just throwing a little wint and Kelly on one two just to push you over the edge.

Oh, wing Kelly on one tune. Yeah. I mean, it's just like, it's unbelievable. Okay. This is good, though. This is amazing. This is the Kob of the early. 2000. This is S-tier. For sure. This is S-tier.

Okay. Maybe we should do a tier list. Let's do a sneer list. The interim operability list. I think that's about it. I think that's all the categories. Man, we nailed it as usual. So yeah, shout-out again to everybody. Al Schmidt, produced by Roy Hargrove and Larry Clothea. Yeah, thank you to Roy for the incredible music that he left us. Montez, Coleman, R-A-P. For sure. As always, much love. And until next time, you'll hear it.