"Hartbreaker" from Roy Hargrove's 1990 debut album Public Eye is a hard-charging original blues in B-flat that puts the young trumpeter's blazing technique on full display. The title, a play on the word heartbreaker substituting alto saxophonist Antonio Hart's surname, reflects the camaraderie between the two horn players who had bonded as part of the emerging Young Lions scene. Taken at a fiery up-tempo pace, the twelve-bar blues form provides a framework for four extended solos. Hargrove opens with six authoritative trumpet choruses, his lines crackling with rhythmic energy and blues feeling. Christian McBride follows with three choruses of acoustic bass, his solo at this demanding tempo revealing the extraordinary technical command that would make him one of the most recorded bassists in jazz. Stephen Scott delivers a substantial seven choruses of piano, building his solo with increasing intensity. Hart closes the solo section with four choruses of alto saxophone, his bright, penetrating tone and rapid-fire articulation providing a fitting counterpart to Hargrove's trumpet work. The track's raw energy and competitive spirit recall the cutting sessions of an earlier era, when young musicians proved themselves through the blues. Billy Higgins drives the performance from behind the drums with the effortless swing and propulsive energy for which he was revered.
