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Keyon Harrold
Keyon Harrold was born and raised in Ferguson, MO, the St. Louis suburb that tore into America’s national consciousness in 2014 with the police shooting of Michael Brown and the bitter protests and riots that followed. While Ferguson looms large in Harrold’s album The Mugician, it examines our troubled times through a far wider lens than any one tragedy. Sweeping and cinematic, the music draws on elements of jazz, classicval, rock, blues, and hip hop to create something uniquely modern, unmistakably American. Guests including Pharoahe Monch, Gary Clark, Jr., Big K.R.I.T., Guy Torry, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Robert Glasper add to the record’s eclectic nature, but it ultimately triumphs as a unified, cohesive whole both because of Harrold’s virtuosic skill as a trumpeter and songwriter and because of his relentlessly optimistic belief in brighter days to come.
Harrold grew up one of 16 children in a family that prioritized music and community across generations. His grandfather was a police officer who retired from the force to found a drum and bugle corps for local youth, both of his parents were pastors, and nearly all of his siblings sing and perform music today. Culture shock hit Harrold hard at 18, when he left Ferguson for New York City to enroll in The New School. In New York, he landed his first major gig with Common, an experience which he says broadened his musical horizons beyond jazz to include funk, Afrobeat, R&B, and hip hop. Soon he was performing with stars like Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, Beyonce, Rihanna, Eminem, Maxwell, and Anthony Hamilton.
In 2009, he released his solo debut, Introducing Keyon Harrold and then won wide acclaim for his trumpet performances in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. The Mugician is a portmanteau of “musician” and “magician, a nod to a nickname Cheadle bestowed upon the young virtuoso, and it’s an apt descriptor for a record that pushes beyond the traditional boundaries of jazz trumpet. In fact, the album doesn’t even begin with trumpet, but rather with a track called ‘Voicemail,’ which features an inspirational message from Harrold’s mother set to a stirring, orchestral soundscape. Entirely unedited, her words lay the groundwork for an album that celebrates the importance of family (ten of Keyon’s siblings appear on the record) and the absolute necessity of optimism in the face of darkness and doubt. These days, Harrold is a parent himself, and he pays tribute to his son with a pair of tracks on the album, “Lullaby” and “Bubba Rides Again.” Issues of identity and equality percolate throughout the record, sometimes subtly beneath the surface, sometimes more pointedly, as in “Circus Show.” However, the album’s most powerful moments come with the one-two punch of “MB Lament” and “When Will It Stop,” songs written in the wake of Michael Brown’s death and the senseless killings of so many others like him.
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Trumpeter/composer Keyon Harrold was born and raised in Ferguson, MO to a musical family. He is the son of pastors and one of 16 children. As a boy, a trumpet was placed in his hands, and the rest is history. He moved to New York to study at The New School in the 1990s and became part of a legendary generation of musicians associated with the neosoul movement, including Common, Bilal, Roy Hargrove, The Roots, and Robert Glasper. ...
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read moreKeyon Harrold: The Mugician
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read moreNew York City’s Jazz Standard Launches 'The Flip Side Sessions': Eight Virtual Concerts Featuring Today’s Leading Artists Starting With Keyon Harrold (march 26)
Source:
AMT Public Relations
Every Friday, March 26-May 14, 2021. All shows 7:30 p.m. ET. Shows will be made available to stream for the following 48 hours. $15 per show. Tickets must be purchased online in advance at JazzStandard.com. Ticket buyers will receive an exclusive link to access the broadcast. Jazz Standard, one of the nation’s premier jazz clubs, is keeping the music alive with “The Flip Side Sessions”, a virtual concert series broadcasting fully-produced, pre-recorded shows every Friday from March 26-May ...
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Keyon Harrold and teenage son accosted, falsely accused in incident at NYC hotel
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Keyon Harrold is used to making the news for his music, but the St. Louis native and Grammy winning trumpeter this week was in the headlines for something else entirely, as he and his teenage son Keyon Jr. were accosted, falsely accused, and assaulted during an incident at the Arlo Soho hotel in New York City. The Harrolds, who were staying at the hotel, were confronted this past Saturday in the lobby by a white woman (that neither had ever ...
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Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's calendar of jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes the return of a favorite local son, a tribute to the late King of Pop," various Mardi Gras festivities, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, February 7 Trumpeter Keyon Harrold returns home to perform for the first of two nights at Jazz at the Bistro Harrold currently is riding high thanks to the critical and commercial success of The Mugician, his second album as a leader, ...
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StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Keyon Harrold comes home
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, let's take a look at some videos featuring trumpeter Keyon Harrold, who will be coming back home to perform next Wednesday, February 7 and Thursday, February 8 at Jazz at the Bistro. Harrold, who grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, has been in the spotlight recently thanks to the release in September of The Mugician, his second album as a leader. Featuring guest appearances from guitarist and singer Gary Clark Jr., rapper Big K.R.I.T., R&B ...
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StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Keyon Harrold sampler
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, let's peruse some videos featuring trumpeter and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold, who now lives in NYC but is coming home to perform on Friday, April 7 and Saturday, April 8 at Jazz at the Bistro. Harrold will be part of an ensemble including pianist Lawrence Fields and drummer Kimberly Thompson, two more former St. Louisans with burgeoning careers playing jazz, plus saxophonist Adam Larson, who grew up not far from here, just up I-55 in Normal, Illinois. ...
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Jazz this week: Robert Glasper Experiment with Keyon Harrold; Black Host; and more
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
View more events at stlouis.jazznearyou.com. As Jazz Appreciation Month swings on, it's a big week for jazz and creative music in jny: St. Louis, with the local debuts of two significant contemporary ensembles offering two different takes on the jazz diaspora, and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, April 22 First up is the much-talked-about Robert Glasper Experiment, with St. Louis native Mark Colenburg on drums and featuring fellow St. Louisan, trumpeter Keyon Herrold, as special guest. Although Glasper ...
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Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Yes, St. Louis jazz fans, Jazz at the Bistro is closed for the next four months, but don't despair; while we wait with bated breath for the newly expanded and swankified Bistro to reopen in the fall, there's still a good deal of jazz and creative music to be heard around town, and StLJN will help you find it. Let's go to this week's highlights... On Thursday night, the 13th annual John L Baker Memorial Concert, featuring a big band ...
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Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week's schedule of jazz and creative music in St. Louis is atypically busy for this time of year, but rather than complain about a surfeit of potential choices, let's go to the highlights:On Thursday, guitarist Kevin Eubanks, back on the road playing jazz again after wrapping up a long stint as bandleader on NBC's Tonight Show, performs at the Casino Queen.Also on Thursday, guitarist Chris Burchett does a free concert for the Jazz at Holmes ...
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Jazz St.Louis Offering Discounts on Tickets for Legacy Jazz Quintet, Keyon Harrold
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Jazz St. Louis is offering two-for-the-price-of-one discounts on tickets for performances at Jazz at the Bistro this weekend and next. The regular price for tickets for this weekend's sets by the Legacy Jazz Quintet is $15, or $10 for students, while next weekend's shows featuring trumpeter Keyon Harrold are priced at $20 and $10. To get the two-for-one discount for the Legacy Jazz Quintet, call 314-531-1111 or go to www.metrotix.com and enter promotion code LJQJUL10. To ...
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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Keyon Harrold
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, let's look at some clips of trumpet player, arranger/composer, producer and St. Louis native Keyon Harrold, who's coming back home on Friday, July 30 and Saturday, July 31 to lead his quintet at Jazz at the Bistro.Touted by Wynton Marsalis in an interview a few years back as the future of the trumpet," Harrold has amassed some impressive credits, both as a jazz player and as a sideman, ...
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