Family (Roy Hargrove album)

Family
Studio album by Roy Hargrove
Released	June 20, 1995 (1995-06-20)
Recorded	January 26–29, 1995
Studio	Studio B, Clinton Recording Studios, NYC
Genre	Jazz straight-ahead jazz hard bop
Length	78:19
Label	Verve 314 527 630-2
Producer	Roy Hargrove Larry Clothier
Roy Hargrove chronology
With the Tenors of Our Time (1994) Family (1995) Parker's Mood (1995)

Family is a studio album by trumpeter Roy Hargrove, recorded on January 26–29, 1995, and released on June 20 of the same year, by Verve Records. ^{[1] [2]} It features Hargrove on trumpet in a quintet with saxophonist Ron Blake and three different rhythm sections (piano, bass, drums), plus guest artists: trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and saxophonists David "Fathead" Newman and Jesse Davis.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Los Angeles Times	[3]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]

Scott Yanow, writing for AllMusic, stated: "This well-rounded set not only features trumpeter Roy Hargrove with his mid-'90s quintet... but with two other rhythm sections and a few special guests. Hargrove shows off his warm tone on 'The Nearness of You'..., and other highlights include the lyrical 'Pas de Trois,'... 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." ^[1]

The Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote: "Family similarly uses several stars with little focus... The album's saving graces are the fiercely bopping 'Firm Roots' and the almost eerily introspective Booker/Hargrove duet on 'Ethiopia.'" ^[5]

Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Hargrove now appears in yet another carefully planned production—one that embraces players from every stage of his brief but impressive career". ^[3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Roy Hargrove except where noted.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
0.	"Trilogy": 1. "Velera" 2. "Roy Allan" 3. "Brian's Bounce"		2:22 3:48 4:56
4.	"The Nearness of You"	Hoagy Carmichael Ned Washington	7:03
5.	"Lament for Love"	Ronnie Mathews	4:01
6.	"Another Level"		6:23
7.	"A Dream of You"	Christian McBride	6:11
8.	"Pas de Trois"	Paul Arslanian	8:39
9.	"Polka Dots and Moonbeams"	Jimmy Van Heusen Johnny Burke	5:36
10.	"The Challenge"		3:46
11.	"Ethiopia"	Larry Willis	3:36
12.	"Nostalgia"	Fats Navarro	6:00
13.	"Thirteenth Floor"	David "Fathead" Newman	5:57
14.	"Firm Roots"	Cedar Walton	5:57
15.	"The Trial"		3:38
Total length:			78:19

Personnel

Musicians

• Roy Hargrove – trumpet (1–3, 5–8, 10, 12–15), flugelhorn (4, 9, 11)
• Wynton Marsalis – trumpet (12)
• David "Fathead" Newman – tenor saxophone (4), flute (13)
• Ron Blake – tenor saxophone (1–3, 6, 12, 14, 15), soprano saxophone (15)
• Jesse Davis – alto saxophone (9, 15)
• John Hicks (8), Larry Willis (9), Ronnie Mathews (5), Stephen Scott (1–4, 6, 7, 10, 12–15) – piano
• Christian McBride (7), Rodney Whitaker (1–4, 6, 10, 12–15), Walter Booker (5, 8, 9, 11) – double bass
• Gregory Hutchinson (1–3, 6, 7, 12, 15), Jimmy Cobb (4, 5, 8, 9, 13), Karriem Riggins (10), Lewis Nash (14) – drums

Production

• Roy Hargrove, Larry Clothier – producer
• Richard Seidel – executive producer
• Camille Tominaro – production coordinator
• Beverly Harris – release coordinator
• Troy Halderson – recording engineer
• Adam Blackburn, Jonathan Mooney, Mark Agostino – assistant recording engineer
• Ed Rak – recording, editing, sequencing, mastering
• Hardgroove Ent. Inc. – management, booking
• David Lau – art direction
• Patricia Lie – art direction, design
• Michael Lavine – photography
• Jimmy Katz – photography (of personnel)

References

1. Yanow, Scott. "Family – Roy Hargrove | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved January 19, 2026.
2. Gliožeris, Slava. "ROY HARGROVE — Family". www.jazzmusicarchives.com. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
3. Heckman, Don (July 2, 1995). "JAZZ SPOTLIGHT: Roy Hargrove Showcases His Overextended 'Family'" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved January 19, 2026.
4. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 649. ISBN   978-0-141-03401-0 . Retrieved January 19, 2026– via Internet Archive.
5. H.B. (1999). Swenson, John (ed.). The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (2nd ed.). Random House. p. 290. ISBN   0-679-76873-4 . Retrieved January 19, 2026– via Internet Archive.