Max Roach!

(1924-2007)
by Dimitris Koutantos

Paraphrasing all the information that can be found in wikipedia and the whole
internet is definitely not the purpose of the article you are reading right now. I just
tried to mention the facts that in my opinion make mr Roach a super important
artist of Jazz and fighter of the human rights.

H
e was the first jazz drummer I heard in my life and I can say with
certainty that he is the drummer whom I have mostly checked until
today. After listening to most of his records, reading articles about his
life and listening to important people talking about him, I believe that Max Roach
is such an important figure in jazz that he could be called as the father of all
modern jazz drummers without any doubts.

Of course somebody would ask: and what about Kenny Clarke? Isnt he an
equally significant innovator of jazz drumming? The occasion Max Roach-Kenny
Clarke could be compared with the occasion of Joe Henderson-Junior Cook. The
truth is that a lot more people know Joe than Junior. Why? Maybe because Joe
Henderson had a bigger personality and even if as many people suggest
stole Juniors style, he managed to develop it much more and create wonderful
music. Something very similar, I believe that, Max did in relation to Klooks style.
In the 50s Max Roach and Clifford Brown formed one of the most successful
quintets of the hardbop era and recorded numerous great records such as Study
in Brown, At Basin Street, Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Daahoud and
many many more.

Max is important because he brought the melody to the drums. Of course the
drummers before him were doing that, but not in the way that Max roach did. He
used the rudiments in such a way that he managed to create his own
distinguished language while paying much attention not only to the beat but also
to the harmonic rhythm and the melody of every tune. On the bandstand he was
engaging his fellow musicians in an open-ended conversation while maintaining
a rock-solid pulse. With this approach, Max established a new standard for the
instrument.

Moreover, Max Roach was an influential teacher. A lot of drummers, such as Art
Blakey and Philly Joe Jones just to name a few, literally studied with Max. It is
said that Max who used to practice the famous wilcoxon book in a daily basis,
suggested that Philly should practice it as well. Also, Tony Williams would study
with Max every summer from the age of 10 until the age of 17, when Tony moved
to NY.

Being in close relationship with other musical cultures like the Caribbean, the
Cuban and the African, Max invented some great Rhythms such as the calypso
and the un poco loco beat. Especially the last one was one of the single most
influential rhythms to Elvin Jones style of drumming.

Max roach was the first drummer to really deal with soloing and playing freely in
3/4 time and after that he was again the first to play in odd time signatures such
as 5/4 and 7/4.

Trained as a classical percussionist, Max had great technique and he was brave to
use the timpani for orchestrating the theme of a tune (e.g. Bemsha swing) or play
an entire solo on it.

With the album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite, Roach used music to address
the need for racial equality. Despite the risks that taking an outspoken political
stance posed to his career, Roach continued to support the Civil Rights and
become a significant figure in the African/American experience of his age.

One of the most famous of all the bop recordings is Jazz at Massey Hall, which
was recorded in 1953 and features Parker, Gillespie, Roach, Bud Powell, and
Charles Mingus. Tunes such as "Salt Peanuts" reveal Roach's ability to play
extremely fast tempos.

His studies at the composition department of the Manhattan School of Music in

New York gave Max the ability to become a very unique composer, arranger and
band-leader. Remarkable is the fact that he is the first jazz drummer to play with
a choir in his own album called Its Time.

Last but not least, Max Roach believed that someone simply cannot write the
same book twice. With this quote he expressed his motivation to always try new
things, challenge his self and keep his artistry fresh. These beliefs Max turned
into action by creating his percussion group MBoom, leading his double
quartet, playing duets with Antony Braxton and Cecil Taylor and collaborating
with video artists, gospel choirs and hip-hop performers.

With this first small research which I did, I can say that I loved Max Roach even
more and my Journey to discovering his artistry hasnt even started. My goal now
is to transcribe and play all of his solos, which I find special and listen carefully to
as many of his records as possible.

Thank you

29-06-2017