Keyon Harrold
New York City-based trumpeter, composer, arranger, and producer Keyon Harrold is a talented jazz artist whose adept skills have found him working across various genres from acoustic post-bop to hip-hop and R&B. Born in 1980 in Ferguson, Missouri, Harrold grew up in a musical family along with nine siblings. Initially, he learned to play trumpet as a member of the Memorial Lancers Drum & Bugle Corps, a band founded by his grandfather, who was a police officer. A disciplined musician from an early age, Harrold would practice regularly, sometimes during his school lunch hour, and by the time he finished high school he was an accomplished performer. From there, he honed his skills studying at the Mannes Jazz Program at New York's New School.
Since graduating, he has balanced his time between recording and touring with jazz artists like trumpeter (and longtime mentor) Charles Tolliver, saxophonist James Carter, and veteran organ giant Dr. Lonnie Smith, as well as R&B and hip-hop artists like Common, Jay-Z, Erykah Badu, and others. As a solo artist, he debuted in 2009 with Introducing Keyon Harrold on Criss Cross, which featured contributions from Tolliver, pianist Danny Grissett, and others. He then appeared on albums by Gregory Porter, Marcus Strickland, and Otis Brown III, and toured as a member of Cirque du Soleil's Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. He also supplied all of the trumpet work for the Grammy-winning soundtrack to director Don Cheadle's 2015 biopic Miles Ahead.
In 2017, Harrold returned to his solo work with his sophomore album, The Mugician, on Legacy Recordings. An ambitious mix of orchestral arrangements, funk, jazz, and hip-hop, the album featured guest appearances by Robert Glasper, Bilal, Big K.R.I.T., Pharoahe Monch, Gary Clark, Jr., and others. Also that year, he headlined his own dates with guitarist Nir Felder and joined DJ Logic's Project Logic ensemble at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Following a global world tour, Harrold served as a core member of Marcus Strickland Twi-Life for the acclaimed album People of the Sun and spent his time working with artists including Beyonce and Snoop Dogg live and in the studio. Following tours, session work, the pandemic, composing and arranging, Harrold released the singfle "Find Your Peace" in September 2023. It offered a sneak peak at Foreverland, his third long player issued in early 2024. The star-studded date included collaborators Laura Mvula, Malaya, Chris Dave, Glasper, Common, PJ Morton, Jean Baylor, and Greg Phillinganes.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
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Find Your Peace (Single Edit)
Jazz - Released by Concord Jazz on Sep 7, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Playa Noche
Cimafunk, Michael Brun, Keyon Harrold
Latin America - Released by Terapia Productions on Apr 9, 2024
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beautiful Day (Instrumental Version)
Jazz - Released by Concord Jazz on Mar 22, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Bass solo
Greg Spero, Keyon Harrold, Terreon Gully
Jazz - Released by Tiny Records on Aug 18, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Introducing Keyon Harrold
Jazz - Released by Criss Cross Jazz on Sep 22, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Running (Refugee Song) [feat. Common & Gregory Porter]
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Refugee Song LLC on Aug 1, 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Journey
Greg Spero, Keyon Harrold, Terreon Gully
Jazz - Released by Tiny Records on Jul 28, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Stepping through fire
Greg Spero, Keyon Harrold, Terreon Gully
Jazz - Released by Tiny Records on Jul 14, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Frith Street
Miguel Muziq, Keyon Harrold, Michael Panteli, Emanuel Harrold
Latin America - Released by Viva La Mùsica Records on Apr 9, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Past reflections
Greg Spero, Keyon Harrold, Terreon Gully
Jazz - Released by Tiny Records on Jul 21, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Foreverland (Single Edit)
Jazz - Released by Concord Jazz on Nov 9, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Dance
Greg Spero, Keyon Harrold, Terreon Gully
Jazz - Released by Tiny Records on Aug 4, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beginnings
Greg Spero, Keyon Harrold, Terreon Gully
Jazz - Released by Tiny Records on Jun 16, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo