Jazz Meets Hip Hop in Harlem

Innovative jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove brought his 19 piece big band to Harlem Stage and the beautiful performance space at The Gatehouse Friday for a sold out, one-night only concert that featured a special guest performance by hip hop artist Q-Tip. While the jazz police might scoff at such musical pairings, similarly inspired collaborations are nothing new for the Grammy Award-winning Hargrove, who has previously crossed genres with latin and funk performers and fronted his own hip hop/jazz collective.

The Hargrove Big Band jumped out of the gate right from the start and picked up speed, only slowing down after they’d finished their final encore some 90 minutes later. While all but a few tunes played were known to me, the dial was set on swing and his band swings hard. One could expect a group led by a horn player to give lots of solos to the brass section, but Hargrove was quite generous in stepping out of the spotlight. During the course of the evening, nearly every musician in the group got a chance to shine and they all made good use of the opportunity.

The Q-Tip segment illustrated the improvisational styles inherent to both jazz and hip hop. The band would lay down a beat and Q-Tip riffed off of it, making up rhymes on the spot, some better than others, but the fun was in the process. He’d lay out and let various sections of the band or Hargrove himself take a chorus before jumping back in. Since many hip hop artists are used to rapping against pre-recorded music or a simple bass line, to be backed by 19 musicians who can feed off whatever he created seemed enjoyable for both artists and audience.