For the past 25 years, Grammy-winning trumpeter Keyon Harrold has used his horn as a hip hop instrument. His doing so is no slight to the jazz that is at the root of his formal musical education – and helped him hone his craft. Quite the contrary. He uses hip hop as a gateway to the genre, which speaks to the evolutionary power of the art form and cultural phenomenon that originally made Black culture synonymous with American music.
“I don’t want to be that person who is not trying to push boundaries and move through other platforms – that is what jazz has been about from the very beginning,” Harrold said. “For me, this is my voice. I’m not trying to be cliché. This is what I believe.”
With his trumpet as his “passport to the world,” Harrold’s mission has been to figure out where he fits as a conduit between genres. “It’s about taking my jazz capabilities and putting them in the element of what today’s music is.” His passion for doing so has his name alongside some of the biggest names in music – and tethered to culture shifting moments, most recently as a featured musician for the “The Color Purple” reboot starring Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks and Colman Domingo.
That journey has led him to his latest album, “Foreverland.” The album drops on January 19 by way of the Concord Jazz label. Harrold will be celebrating with a handful of live performances on January 26-27 at Jazz St. Louis, where he serves as Creative Advisor.
“Foreverland is your truth. Foreverland is your light on the journey. The Foreverland that starts inside of you is your compass,” Harrold said. “It’s your core being – your magnetic center.”
The music is an eclectic mix of sounds that have elements of hip hop, jazz, soul and R&B that he freely takes liberties to bend and merge to create a sound all its own.
“It is a playlist of an album that you can listen to and appreciate each thing. It spans genres. It’s honest,” Harrold said. “It’s not like it is a contrived vibe. It is the biggest honor and opportunity to take people deeper into music.”
Harrold has some heavy hitters with respect to the features – Common, PJ Morton, Robert Glasper, Jean Baylor, Laura Mvula are among them. “There were so many incredible musicians. It’s like creating the best roux for gumbo – it’s the ingredients,” Harrold said. “I used my heart as a guide to get to the right people to feature on the album with me. I had to sit with the music and say, ‘Yes this person’s vibe will be the way.’”
But of the featured vocalists, the most surprising to hear on the record is Harrold himself. “There is a level of vulnerability that comes with using my voice to say what I want to say musically and share what I’ve been through,” Harrold said. “It is the next progression to my artistry. I have the blessing [with this album] to use all of my talents as opposed to the trumpet that people know me for – which is a part of my ministry, but not the whole ministry.”
“Foreverland” feels as much like a motivational tool as a musical project thanks to tracks like “Find Your Peace,” “Beautiful Day” and “Peace Beyond.” He also sees the album as a reflection of where he’s come from and what he’s gone through and how he has been protected along the way.
“There have been all kinds of dangers present – present and unseen that God has delivered me from,” Harrold said. “I’m there as far as peace – and I am trying to [through my music] usher as many people into that peace as I possibly can. Through the trumpet, through my vocals – through whatever is possible. I am the artist who is willing to take people higher, in whatever form they need to be taken.”
His ultimate desire is for the music to be a guide to compel listeners to seek – and find – their own Foreverland.”
“Everything that we want, everything that we need – the deepest yearnings of our hearts – you can have it, but it starts within you,” Harrold said. “Everything that is outside of that, doesn’t belong in your Foreverland.
Keyon Harrold’s latest album “Foreverland” will be released on Friday, January 19 through Concord Jazz.
Keyon Harrold will play Jazz St. Louis on January 26-27 at The Ferring Jazz Bistro, 3536 Washington Avenue. For showtimes, to purchase tickets or for additional information regarding the performances, visit www.jazzstl.org or call 314.571.6000.
