Roy Campbell, Jr. was born in Los Angeles in 1952 and grew up in New York. Roy Campbell’s musical journey began as a child with piano lessons, initially inspired by his father, whose trumpet was the first one he used. By the time he entered high school, young Roy Campbell was playing flute, recorder, and violin, and he began studying trumpet as a high school senior.
As a young fan, Roy Campbell, Jr. met Lee Morgan at the Bronxwood Inn in the late '6O's and in 1971 Roy began participating in Jazzmobile workshops, working with jazz masters Kenny Dorham, Howard McGhee, and Lee Morgan, as well as with Howard McGhee and Joe Newman in Jazz Interactions workshops. Later, as a trumpet major at Manhattan Community College, Roy Campbell’s professors were Leonard Goines and Dick Vance. Roy studied music theory, arranging, and composition with Yusef Lateef, graduating in 1975 with an Associate's Degree in music. By 1972, Roy was leading his own band, Spectrum; Roy Campbell had just turned 2O. He was also in great demand as a sideman and studio musician. During the time from 1974 to 1976, Roy Campbell co-led a band called the Spirits of Rhythm with Radha Reyes Botofasina, which included, at various times: Omar Hakim, Rodney Jones, Kenny Kirkland, J.T. Lewis, Zane Massey, Cecil McBee, Jr., Andy McCloud, Marcus Miller, Charles Neville (of the Neville Brothers), Ricardo Strobert, Rudy Walker, Kenny Washington, and Bobby Watson.
In 1978, Roy Campbell met master bassist William Parker, who recommended him to Jemeel Moondoc, who in turn invited Roy to join Ensemble Muntu, an association that led to many dates and tours abroad. Roy Campbell's travels and worldwide exposure allowed him to develop an international following in Europe, Japan, the Caribbean Islands, and the USA. Campbell lived in the Netherlands from 199O to 1992, working as a freelance musician and lecturer and holding conservatory workshops. He was the leader of the Thelonious New World Orchestra in Rotterdam for two years. Roy Campbell played with the bands of Ruud Bergamin, Klaas Hekman, and Dennis Winter; he led a Thursday-night jam session in Rotterdam; and he also played as a sideman in numerous ensembles. During this period, the Eindhoven and Groningen Festivals commissioned Roy to compose music for brass ensembles.
Yet there was a part of his creative spirit that polished musicianship alone could not satisfy. Back in the States, Roy Campbell expanded into writing and arranging music for himself and others, scoring documentaries, and composing and arranging for off-Broadway productions. Roy Campbell scored the documentaries "The Selling of Harlem" and "Survival in New York," his compositions and arrangements were featured in the off-Broadway productions "Ludwig" and "Parole by Death," and "Hughes' Dream Harlem," a Black Star Entertainment special about Langston Hughes directed by Jamal Joseph, features Roy Campbell, Jr.'s recorded music. Roy's television credits include appearances on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, UPN, and cable networks, participating in interviews, new programs, and profiles. He appears in Zakariah Sherzad's Vision Festival documentary "What's All That About?" as well as several other concert films; his composition "Malcolm, Martin, and Mandela" was played during a WBAI "Democracy Now" broadcast on Malcolm X's birthday, 'O3; and Amadou Diallo's mother played Roy's "Amadou" from "Ethnic Stew and Brew" on the air during an interview in California.
As a bandleader, Roy Campbell, Jr. has long maintained several stellar working units. Tazz (with Andrew Bemkey, Chris Sullivan, and Michael Thompson) is a reflection of various musical styles, languages, backgrounds, and sources, with a mission to break down cultural barriers through a sound that is at once eclectic, progressive, polished, and funky. Roy Campbell also leads The Pyramid Trio (with William Parker and Hamid Drake), which he began in 1983 and which includes music of many world cultures with a jazz overtone. In addition, Campbell founded the collective group Other Dimensions in Music (with Daniel Carter, William Parker, and Rashied Bakr), which plays improvised music of all styles. In 1995 he formed Shades and Colors of Trane (with Walden Wimberley, Hilliard Greene, and Warren Smith), a tribute band for master saxophonist John Coltrane. And in 1999 Roy Campbell added the group Downtown horns (with Daniel Carter and Sabir Mateen).
A few of the leading innovators among contemporary musicians Roy Campbell has worked with include: Rashied Ali, Billy Bang, Evelyn Blakey, Dave Douglas, Carlos Garnett, Henry Grimes, Eddie Harris, Makanda Ken McIntyre, Jemeel Moondoc, David Murray, Sunny Murray, William Parker, Hannibal Marvin Peterson, Sun Ra, Woody Shaw, Cecil Taylor, Charles Tyler, Wilbur Ware, Frank Wright, John Zorn, and a countless host of other bands and ensembles.
In the year 2OO1, "JazzTimes" designated Roy Campbell's CD Ethnic Stew and Brew, (Delmark) number three of the top 5O jazz CDs of the year. Roy was also nominated trumpeter of the year by the Jazz Journalists' Association in 2OO2, and he will receive an award as a Harlem Unsung Hero of Afrikan~Amerikan Classical Music at the Lenox Lounge in November, 2OO3.