Roy Hargrove, born in 1969 in Waco, Texas, has gone from a child prodigy to become an established young jazz trumpeter, with several albums as a leader under his belt.

Hargrove's talent was discovered by Wynton Marsalis when Marsalis came to visit his high school. He attended Boston's famous Berklee School of Music and was soon releasing albums. He also was a sideman on albums by other notable people: e.g. Sonny Rollins, James Clay , Frank Morgan, and Jackie McLean.

One of his biggest influences was saxophone player David "Fathead" Newman who played with the Ray Charles Band at Roy's junior high school.

He won a Grammy Award in 1998 for his album Habana with his Afro-Cuban band, Crisol .