Roy Hargrove - Bern (2026)

The 2026 issue of Bern is a previously unreleased recording of Roy Hargrove's hard-working quintet at the 2000 Bern International Jazz Festival in Switzerland. It appears via jazz detective Zev Feldman's Time Traveler label, and was co-produced with James Batsford and executive producer Aida Brandes-Hargrove. Beautifully recorded, it showcases the quintet -- pianist Larry Willis, alto saxophonist Sherman Irby, bassist Gerald Cannon, and drummer Willie Jones III -- at full tilt, in command and control over music and audience. Hargrove proves again his deep respect for the tradition juxtaposed with his trademark creative restlessness.
The set opens hard and fast (250-bpm-plus) with "Stranded" a composition by trombonist Frank Lacy (Hargrove's bandmate in the Afro-Cuban Crisol project on 1997's Habana). Centered in blues and hard bop, the two-horn theme is blazing for the first minute, just before the trumpeter delivers a six-chorus solo. Loaded with pyrotechnics and flawless technique, Hargrove blows across bop, hard bop, and Latin jazz with countless high notes, circular breathing, and fiery intensity. Irby follows with a warm, inviting tone and moves across the harmony like a frenetic wizard. Willis, the eternally inventive pianist, slows it down, illustrating tonally rich chords and illuminating arpeggios that become denser before whispering out for the band's furious re-entry. It's followed by the sprightly "Depth," an early Hargrove original in 4/4. While the frontline players carry the theme, Willis, Cannon, and Jones swing hard before the pianist slows it down to make room for the trumpeter to relay a tender, lyrical ballad before the band re-enters and Willis delivers a delicious fingerpopping solo. Speaking of ballads, the quintet's reading of the standard "Never Let Me Go" is rich, restrained, and deeply soulful. Hargrove's solo is sensitive yet canny; Willis offers whispering chords and fills in painterly fashion, while Cannon lays cues behind them. "Caryisms" was composed for the pianist Marc Cary. The bluesy theme is carried by the horn players before Irby delivers a solo that melds blues, bop, and gospel. Hargrove's solo offers tight rhythmic bursts amid soulful turns as Willis weaves percussive chords and fluid jazz-funk runs. Cannon and Jones are locked in, directing the rhythmic conversation. "Circus" closes the set. It was a set staple of Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers who initially recorded it in 1961. Its Latin groove is asserted by Cannon and Jones with Willis' blocky comping framing the horn players' theme. Hargrove's solo, while swinging, also extends his phrasing outward, with razor-wire staccatos and resonant lines. Irby's alto break moves head on into the rhythm orgy with color and imagination as Willis pushes greater intensity in his solo. Bern is a jazz fan's holy grail. The brilliant, high-energy performance and fantastic sound quality reveal yet another dimension of Hargrove's unexaggerated genius.