This well-rounded set not only features trumpeter
Roy Hargrove with his mid-'90s quintet (tenor saxophonist
Ron Blake, pianist
Stephen Scott, bassist
Rodney Whitaker, and drummer
Gregory Hutchinson) but with two other rhythm sections and a few special guests. The first three selections (which includes the uptempo blues "Brian's Bounce") are called "Trilogy" and dedicated to various family members.
Hargrove shows off his warm tone on "The Nearness of You" (a ballads with strings album was in the near future), and other highlights include the lyrical "Pas de Trois," a duet by
Hargrove and bassist
Walter Booker on
Larry Willis' "Ethiopia," and a driving version of "Firm Roots." A meeting between
Hargrove and
Wynton Marsalis on the bop standard "Nostalgia" is disappointingly tame, but otherwise this is a high-quality modern hard bop release. ~ Scott Yanow