You can't always get what you want, and in this instance it's a shame. The titles of Roy Hargrove's two latest CDs, released simultaneously last month, hint at his dissatisfaction with the record company's presentation of his music.
Nothing Serious is a straight-ahead recording featuring the Hargrove Quintet with guest trombonist Slide Hampton, while Distractions was recorded with his other touring group, the RH Factor, supplemented by his first musical hero, saxophonist David 'Fathead' Newman, who also features here on flute.
The RH Factor made their debut in 2003 with the punningly titled Hard Groove, which combined elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop. It got a mixed reception critically, but opened up a new audience for the trumpeter, and has been taking up increasing amounts of his time.
'I've been doing more touring with RH Factor than my quintet lately. People are turning a deaf ear to jazz. Some of that is the fault of jazz musicians trying too hard to be cerebral. They aren't having fun playing the music, and that's why people aren't coming to hear it live any more,' Hargrove says.
For a player with as much to express in a jazz context as he has, that must indeed be frustrating. From his emergence in the late 1980s - he is still only 36 - Hargrove has consistently demonstrated an ability to function highly effectively as a fresh voice without losing sight of the musical heritage that has shaped him.
His debut, 1990's Diamond in the Rough, mixed contemporary material with bop standards, while his first album for Verve, 1994's With the Tenors of Our Time, again positioned him as a man with an eye on both the future of jazz and on its illustrious past.