Too easy on the ears

Roy Hargrove Quintet

Earfood (Decca)

ESSENTIAL "I'm Not So Sure"

Every time trumpeter Roy Hargrove puts out an album, I think: This will be the one that convinces me that he has something to add to the jazz canon. And every time I am disappointed. This is not a commentary on his actual playing. His technique on the horn is right up there with his contemporaries Wynton Marsalis and Nicholas Payton (and it surpasses that of Dave Douglas). But unlike those guys, Hargrove always sounds like he's catching up to the aesthetic of the day (or the latest fad). After a couple of sessions of funk and soul, Hargrove is back to tradition with "Earfood," a quintet outing with alto saxophonist Justin Robinson, pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Danton Boller, and drummer Montez Coleman. His playing is lovely and dynamic. Listen to the clauses he strings together on his own "Brown" and his fiery phrases on Cedar Walton's "I'm Not So Sure." His live cover of Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home to Me" is a hair-raising romp, if an awkward coda to the album. The thing is, most of "Earfood" feels familiar. Too familiar. I still can't shake the feeling that Hargrove doesn't have anything new to say.