Roy Campbell Jr.

Roy Campbell Jr.
Photo by Bogdan Dimitriu
Background information
Birth name	Roy Sinclair Campbell Jr.
Born	(1952-09-29)September 29, 1952 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	January 9, 2014(2014-01-09) (aged 61) The Bronx, New York
Genres	Free jazz, funk, R&B
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Trumpet

Roy Sinclair Campbell Jr. (September 29, 1952 – January 9, 2014) was an American trumpeter frequently linked to free jazz, although he also performed rhythm and blues and funk during his career.

Biography

Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1952, Campbell was raised in New York City. At the age of fifteen he began learning to play trumpet and soon studied at the Jazz Mobile program along with Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan and Joe Newman. Throughout the 1960s, still unacquainted with the avant-garde movement, Campbell performed in the big bands of the Manhattan Community College. From the 1970s onwards he performed primarily within the context of free jazz, spending some of this period studying with Yusef Lateef.

In the early 1990s Campbell moved to the Netherlands and performed regularly with Klaas Hekman and Don Cherry. In addition to leading his own groups, he performed with Yo La Tengo, William Parker, Peter Brotzmann, Matthew Shipp, and other improvisors. Upon returning to the United States he began leading his group Other Dimensions In Music and also formed the Pyramid Trio, a pianoless trio formed with William Parker. He performed regularly as part of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, which is held annually in New York City.

He died in January 2014 of hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at the age of 61.

Discography

As leader

• New Kingdom (Delmark, 1992)
• La Tierra del Fuego (Delmark, 1994)
• Communion (Silkheart, 1995)
• Ancestral Homeland (No More, 1998)
• Ethnic Stew and Brew (Delmark, 2001)
• It's Krunch Time (Thirsty Ear, 2001)
• Akhenaten Suite (Aum Fidelity, 2008)

As co-leader

with Other Dimensions in Music

• Other Dimensions in Music (Silkheart, 1990)
• Now! (Aum Fidelity, 1998)
• Time Is of the Essence Is Beyond Time (Aum Fidelity, 2000)
• Live at the Sunset (Marge, 2007)
• Kaiso Stories (Silkheart, 2011)

with The Nu Band (Roy Campbell Jr., Mark Whitecage, Joe Fonda, Lou Grassi)

• Live at the Bop Shop (Clean Feed, 2001)
• Live (Konnex, 2005)
• The Dope and the Ghost (Not Two, 2007)
• Lower East Side Blues (Porter, 2009)
• Live in Paris (No Business, 2010)
• Relentlessness Live at the Sunset (Marge, 2011)

with Joe McPhee, William Parker & Warren Smith

• Tribute to Albert Ayler Live at the Dynamo (Marge, 2009)

As sideman

with Jemeel Moondoc

• The Evening of the Blue Men (Muntu, 1979)
• New York Live! (Cadence, 1981)
• The Intrepid Live in Poland (Poljazz, 1981)
• The Athens Concert (Praxis, 1982)
• Konstanze's Delight (Soul Note, 1983)
• Spirit House (Eremite, 2001)
• Live in Paris (Cadence, 2003)
• Live at the Vision Festival (Ayler, 2003)
• The Zookeeper's House (Relative Pitch, 2014)

with Saheb Sarbib

• Live at the Public Theatre (Cadence, 1981)
• Aisha (Cadence, 1981)

with Billy Bang

• Live at Carlos 1 (Soul Note, 1986)

with William Parker

• Flowers Grow in my Room (Centering, 1994)
• Sunrise in the Tone World (AUM Fidelity, 1997)
• Mayor of Punkville (AUM Fidelity, 2000)
• Raincoat in the River (Eremite, 2001)
• Spontaneous (Splasc(H), 2002)
• Mass for the Healing of the World (Black Saint, 2003)
• Fractured Dimensions (FMP, 2003)
• For Percy Heath (Victo, 2006)
• Essence of Ellington (Centering, 2012)

with Ehran Elisha

• Sweet Empathy (Cadence, 1995)
• The Kicker (CIMP, 1998)
• Lowe Down Suite (CIMP, 1999)

with Peter Brötzmann's Die Like a Dog Quartet

• From Valley to Valley (Eremite, 1998)

with Matthew Shipp

• Strata (hatOLOGY, 1998)
• Pastoral Composure (Thirsty Ear, 2000)

with Rob Brown

• Jumping Off the Page (No More, 2000)
• The Big Picture (Marge, 2004)

with Alan Silva

• & The Sounds Visions Orchestra (Eremite, 2001)

with Yuko Fujiyama

• Re-entry (CIMP, 2001)

with Steve Lehman

• Structural Fire (CIMP, 2001)
• Camouflage (CIMP, 2002)

with Peter Brötzmann Tentet + 2

• Short Visit to Nowhere (Okkadisk, 2002)
• Broken English (Okkadisk, 2002)

with Maneri Ensemble

• Going to Church (Aum Fidelity, 2002)

with Khan Jamal

• Balafon Dance (CIMP, 2002)

with Kevin Norton

• The Dream Catcher (CIMP, 2003)

with Yo La Tengo

• Summer Sun (Matador, 2003)

with Exuberance

• The Other Shore (Boxholder, 2003)
• Live at Vision Festival (Ayler, 2004)

with Steve Swell

• Suite for Players, Listeners and Other Dreamers (CIMP, 2003)
• News from the Mystic Auricle (Not Two, 2008)

with Burton Greene

• Isms Out (CIMP, 2004)

with Dennis Gonzalez

• Nile River Suite (Daagnim, 2004)

with El-P

• High Water (Thirsty Ear, 2004)

with Whit Dickey

• Coalescence (Clean Feed, 2004)
• In a Heartbeat (Clean Feed, 2005)
• Sacred Ground (Clean Feed, 2006)

with Marc Ribot

• Spiritual Unity (Pi recordings, 2005)

with Charles Tyler

• Live at Sweet Basil vol. 1 & 2 (1984) (Bleu Regard, 2006)

with Garrison Fewell

• Variable Density Sound Orchestra (Creative Nation Music, 2009)

with Stone Quartet

• Live at Vision Festival (Ayler, 2011)

with William Hooker Trio with Dave Soldier

• Heart of the Sun (Engine Records, 2013)

with New Atlantis Octet

• Unto the Sun (Not Two. 2013)

with Adam Lane

• Blue Spirit Band (CIMP, 2013)
• Oh Freedom (CIMP, 2013)

External links

• Official site
• Roy Campbell Jr. at IMDb