Shocked to hear Roy Hargrove is no longer with us! Such a huge influence and inspiration for me. The man with the most beautiful sound, with so much soul in everything he played and a sense for style. A great human being living the music every second of his life. Rest in Peace Roy, we‘ll miss you.
The picture shows Roy & me after his concert at the Langnau Jazz Nights in 2006, chatting with Tommy Inderbinen, who made our instruments. I only had my trumpet back then, and Roy literally ordered my Flugelhorn that night – and I only found out after I got the call it‘s finished. Glad we met a few more times, didn‘t expect last year back in Langnau to be the last one.
“His capacity for combustion and bravura was equaled by his commitment to lyricism.” – Nate Chinen, NPR
“Having been fortunate to play with the super, super trumpet stars of the day, I found it inconceivable that this new kid on the block could be in that class, could be that good. He was. He is, and will always be.” – Sonny Rollins
“One of the people I watched as a benchmark of what I could be as trumpet player musically. The epitome of a soloist. Amazing arranger and composer. A jazz historian.” – Keyon Harrold
“Standing next to him for one evening taught me so much about Swing, a lesson I carry with me every time I play.” – Avishai Cohen
“The Great Roy Hargrove. He is literally the one man horn section I hear in my head when I think about music. (…) I know I’ve spoken in every aspect of Soulquarian era recording techniques but even I can’t properly document how crucial and spot on Roy was with his craft man.” – Questlove
“You gave the music and all of us everything you had. Thank you Roy for everything. You were my hero.” – Ben Williams
“What would today’s younger generation of trumpeter sound like if there was no ROY?” – Curtis Taylor
“Some musicians play with a lot of technique and they can dazzle you, and you’ll be like ‘wow, how did he do that’… and then there are other cats that just play one note and you’re like in tears…” – Roy Hargrove