000015 - Roy Campbell, Jr., Avant Garde Jazz Trumpeter

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, bebop and funk at times during his career.

Born in Los Angeles, California, in 1952,  Campbell was raised in New York.  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.

Roy Campbell, Jr., died in January 2014 of hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at the age of 61.

The discography of Roy Campbell, Jr. reads as follows:

As leader

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

with Other Dimensions in Music 

• Other Dimensions in Music (Silkheart, 1990)
• Now! (Aum Fidelity, 1988)
• Time is of the Essence is Beyond Time (Aum Fidelity, 2002)
• Live at the Sunset, Paris (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 Records, 2009)
• Live in Paris (No Business, 2010)
• Relentlessness Live at the Sunset (Marge, 2011)

with Tribute to Albert Ayler (Joe McPhee, Roy Campbell, William Parker, Warren Smith)

• 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 - Live 1981 (Soul Note, 1983)
• Spirit House (Eremite, 2000)
• Live in Paris (Cadence, 2003)
• Just Grew Orchestra Live at the Vision Festival (Ayler, 2003)

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)
• Mass for the Healing of the World (Black Saint, 2003)
• Spontaneous (Splasc(h), 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 Brotzmann'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 Brotzmann 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 Sewell

• Suite for Players, Listeners and Other Dreamers (CIMP, 2003)
• Rivers of Sound Ensemble - 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, 2007)

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)