Gregory Charles Royal, also known as Chuck Royal, is an American musician, trombonist, composer, writer, co-founder of '' The BeBop Channel Corporation'', the former parent owner of

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

. founder of the New York Jazz Film Festival, a former judge on '' America's Hot Musician''. and the former artistic director of the American Youth Symphony (AYS) in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Early life and education

As a student at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

, he received the 1982 ''

DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

'' Magazine Student Music Award for Jazz Vocal Group: Graduate College Outstanding Performance in the Jazz Instrumental Soloist Category. He graduated from Howard University with a Master of Music in Jazz Studies.

Career

Royal played with the

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

Orchestra (1989–99),

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

and

The Jazz Messengers The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the o ...

Slide Hampton Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombone, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tub ...

and his World of Trombones and Howard University Jazz Ensemble. He has appeared onstage as a trombonist with the Broadway shows ''

Five Guys Named Moe ''Five Guys Named Moe'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book by Clarke Peters and lyrics and music by Louis Jordan and others. The musical is based on an earlier musical short of the same name by Louis Jordan from 1943. It had its UK debu ...

'' and ''Jelly's Last Jam''. Royal has also written and appeared in a play God Doesn't Mean You Get To Live Forever, presented in March 2012 at the Baruch Performing Arts Center, and in 2022 at Theatre Row on 42nd Street in New York. The December 2012 production was mounted as a series of performances in New York at the Baruch Performing Arts Center starring Gregory Charles Royal,

Frenchie Davis Franchell "Frenchie" Davis (born May 7, 1979) is an American Broadway performer and a soul, dance/electronica, and pop singer. She came to public attention in 2003 as a contestant on the singing competition show ''American Idol''. Davis began per ...

(in the role of "Reese Noel") and The Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes Jr. as himself. "''God Doesn't Mean You Get To Live Forever'' delves into the notion that belief in God may not translate into the eventuality of everlasting life and the conflict such a notion brings upon a gospel musician."American Youth Symphony website http://www.americanyouthsymphony.org Royal wrote and appeared in the short film ''World's Not for Me'', in which he plays a jazz musician who awakens from a near 30 year coma to find a world he no longer recognizes musically, culturally or financially. The film won the Harlem Spotlight Best Narrative Short Award at the

Harlem International Film Festival The Harlem International Film Festival (Hi) is an annual five-day film festival in Harlem, New York. The first festival took place in 2005. Michael Franti's ''I Know I'm Not Alone'' was named Best International Documentary at the festival that y ...

in September, 2016."2016 Awards"
Harlem International Film Festival.

References

Bibliography

* Scott Harris, "Prince of the Pick up Picks Up The Pieces", ''Los Angeles Times'', February 11, 1997 * Leonard Feather, ''Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', Oxford University Press, 1999 * ''RPM Magazine'', Volume 62, No. 10, October 9, 1995 * Life 1999 Universal Pictures {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Greogory Charles Howard University alumni Living people American jazz trombonists American male trombonists DC Youth Orchestra Program alumni University of the District of Columbia alumni 21st-century American trombonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American musicians The Jazz Messengers members