Max Roach: Difference between revisions

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| name            = Max Roach
| name            = Max Roach
| image            = Max Roach, Three Deuces, ca. 1947.jpg
| image            = Max Roach, Three Deuces, ca. 1947.jpg
| caption          = Roach {{circa|1947}}
| caption          = Roach, {{circa|1947}}
| background      = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| background      = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name      = Maxwell Lemuel Roach
| birth_name      = Maxwell Lemuel Roach
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1924|1|10}}
| birth_date      = {{birth date|1924|1|10}}
| birth_place      = [[Pasquotank County, North Carolina|Newland Township, North Carolina]], U.S.
| birth_place      = Newland Township, [[Pasquotank County, North Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date      = {{death date and age|2007|8|16|1924|1|10}}
| death_date      = {{death date and age|2007|8|16|1924|1|10}}
| death_place      = [[Manhattan]], New York City, U.S.
| death_place      = [[Manhattan]], New York City, U.S.
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| years_active    = 1944–2002
| years_active    = 1944–2002
| label            = {{hlist|[[Capitol Records|Capitol]]|[[Impulse! Records|Impulse!]]}}
| label            = {{hlist|[[Capitol Records|Capitol]]|[[Impulse! Records|Impulse!]]}}
| module         = {{Infobox person
| module           = {{Infobox person
| embed           = yes
| embed           = yes
| alma_mater     = [[Manhattan School of Music]]
| alma_mater       = [[Manhattan School of Music]]
| spouse          = [[Abbey Lincoln]] (1962–1970)
}}
}}
}}
}}


'''Maxwell Lemuel Roach''' (January 10, 1924{{efn|Although Roach's birth certificate lists January 10, 1924, as his birthdate, Roach was quoted by [[Phil Schaap]] as saying that his family believed he was born on January 8.<ref>[http://nancyrawlinson.com/3arch.htm MADISON magazine: "Max Roach and James Woods"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122706/http://nancyrawlinson.com/3arch.htm|date=September 29, 2007}}</ref>}} – August 16, 2007) was an American [[jazz]] [[Jazz drumming|drummer]] and [[composer]]. A pioneer of [[bebop]], he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name=":0">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1049839/legendary-jazz-drummer-max-roach-dies-at-83|title=Legendary Jazz Drummer Max Roach Dies at 83|magazine=Billboard|date=August 16, 2007|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref> He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including [[Clifford Brown]], [[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Charlie Parker]], [[Miles Davis]], [[Duke Ellington]], [[Thelonious Monk]], [[Abbey Lincoln]], [[Dinah Washington]], [[Charles Mingus]], [[Billy Eckstine]], [[Stan Getz]], [[Sonny Rollins]], [[Eric Dolphy]], and [[Booker Little]]. He also played with his daughter Maxine Roach, a Grammy nominated violist. He was inducted into the ''[[DownBeat]]'' Hall of Fame in 1980 and the ''[[Modern Drummer]]'' Hall of Fame in 1992.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.moderndrummer.com/modern-drummers-readers-poll-archive/#_|title=Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2014|work=[[Modern Drummer]]|access-date=August 10, 2015}}</ref>
'''Maxwell Lemuel Roach''' (January 10, 1924{{efn|Although Roach's birth certificate lists January 10, 1924, as his birthdate, Roach was quoted by [[Phil Schaap]] as saying that his family believed he was born on January 8.<ref>[http://nancyrawlinson.com/3arch.htm MADISON magazine: "Max Roach and James Woods"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122706/http://nancyrawlinson.com/3arch.htm|date=September 29, 2007}}</ref>}} – August 16, 2007) was an American [[jazz]] [[Jazz drumming|drummer]] and [[composer]]. A pioneer of [[bebop]], he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history.<ref name="autogenerated1"/><ref name=":0">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1049839/legendary-jazz-drummer-max-roach-dies-at-83|title=Legendary Jazz Drummer Max Roach Dies at 83|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|first=Cortney|last=Harding|date=August 16, 2007|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref> He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including [[Clifford Brown]], [[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Charlie Parker]], [[Miles Davis]], [[Duke Ellington]], [[Thelonious Monk]], [[Abbey Lincoln]], [[Dinah Washington]], [[Charles Mingus]], [[Billy Eckstine]], [[Stan Getz]], [[Sonny Rollins]], [[Eric Dolphy]], [[Benny Carter]], and [[Booker Little]]. He also played with his daughter Maxine Roach, a Grammy-nominated violist. He was inducted into the ''[[DownBeat]]'' Hall of Fame in 1980 and the ''[[Modern Drummer]]'' Hall of Fame in 1992.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.moderndrummer.com/modern-drummers-readers-poll-archive/#_|title=Modern Drummer's Readers Poll Archive, 1979–2014|work=[[Modern Drummer]]|access-date=August 10, 2015}}</ref>


In the mid-1950s, Roach co-led a pioneering [[quintet]] along with trumpeter [[Clifford Brown]]. In 1970, he founded the [[percussion ensemble]] [[M'Boom]].
In the mid-1950s, Roach co-led a pioneering [[quintet]] along with trumpeter [[Clifford Brown]]. In 1970, Roach founded the [[percussion ensemble]] [[M'Boom]].


==Biography==
==Biography==
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Roach's family moved to the [[Bedford-Stuyvesant]] neighborhood of [[Brooklyn|Brooklyn, New York]], when he was four years old. He grew up in a musical home with his [[gospel singer]] mother. He started to play [[bugle (instrument)|bugle]] in parades at a young age. At the age of 10, he was already playing drums in some gospel bands.
Roach's family moved to the [[Bedford-Stuyvesant]] neighborhood of [[Brooklyn|Brooklyn, New York]], when he was four years old. He grew up in a musical home with his [[gospel singer]] mother. He started to play [[bugle (instrument)|bugle]] in parades at a young age. At the age of 10, he was already playing drums in some gospel bands.


In 1942, as an 18-year-old recently graduated from [[Boys and Girls High School|Boys High School]] in [[Brooklyn]], he was called to fill in for [[Sonny Greer]] with the [[Duke Ellington]] Orchestra performing at the [[Paramount Theatre (New York City)|Paramount Theater]] in [[Manhattan]]. He started going to the [[jazz club]]s on [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]] and at 78th Street & [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] for Georgie Jay's Taproom, where he played with schoolmate [[Cecil Payne]].<ref name="Roach's account">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WF-uzhaLU4C&q=Georgie+Jay%27s+Taproom&pg=PA77|title=Swing to Bop: An Oral History of the Transition in Jazz in the 1940s|author-link=Ira Gitler|first=Ira|last=Gitler|date=1985|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780195364118|page=77|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref> His first professional recording took place in December 1943, backing [[Coleman Hawkins]].<ref name="Max Roach Discography">{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/max-roach/discography/#431218|title=Max Roach discography|website=Jazz Disco|access-date=August 28, 2018}}</ref>
In 1942, as an 18-year-old recently graduated from [[Boys and Girls High School|Boys High School]] in [[Brooklyn]], he was called to fill in for [[Sonny Greer]] with the [[Duke Ellington]] Orchestra performing at the [[Paramount Theatre (New York City)|Paramount Theater]] in [[Manhattan]]. He started going to the [[jazz club]]s on [[52nd Street (Manhattan)|52nd Street]] and at 78th Street & [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] for Georgie Jay's Taproom, where he played with schoolmate [[Cecil Payne]].<ref name="Roach's account">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WF-uzhaLU4C&q=Georgie+Jay%27s+Taproom&pg=PA77|title=Swing to Bop: An Oral History of the Transition in Jazz in the 1940s|author-link=Ira Gitler|first=Ira|last=Gitler|date=1985|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780195364118|page=77|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref> Roach's first professional recording took place in December 1943, backing [[Coleman Hawkins]].<ref name="Max Roach Discography">{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/max-roach/discography/#431218|title=Max Roach discography|website=Jazz Disco|access-date=August 28, 2018}}</ref>


He was one of the first drummers, along with [[Kenny Clarke]], to play in the [[bebop]] style. Roach performed in bands led by [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Charlie Parker]], [[Thelonious Monk]], [[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Bud Powell]], and [[Miles Davis]]. He played on many of Parker's most important records, including the [[Savoy Records]] November 1945 session, which marked a turning point in recorded jazz. His early [[Drum brush|brush]] work with Powell's trio, especially at fast tempos, has been highly praised.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes|title=The Complete Bud Powell on Verve|year=1994|last=Harris|first=Barry|first2=Michael|last2=Weiss|pages=106|type=[[liner notes]], booklet|publisher=[[Verve Records]]}}</ref>
Roach was one of the first drummers, along with [[Kenny Clarke]], to play in the [[bebop]] style, and he performed in bands led by [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Charlie Parker]], [[Thelonious Monk]], [[Coleman Hawkins]], [[Bud Powell]], and [[Miles Davis]]. Roach played on many of Parker's most important records, including the [[Savoy Records]] November 1945 session, which marked a turning point in recorded jazz. His early [[Drum brush|brush]] work with Powell's trio, especially at fast tempos, has been highly praised.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes|title=The Complete Bud Powell on Verve|year=1994|last=Harris|first=Barry|first2=Michael|last2=Weiss|pages=106|type=[[liner notes]], booklet|publisher=[[Verve Records]]}}</ref>


Roach nurtured an interest in and respect for [[Afro-Caribbean music]] and traveled to [[Haiti]] in the late 1940s to study with the traditional drummer [[Ti Roro]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Haydon|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Marks|first2=Dennis|title=A Celebration of African-American Music|publisher=Century Publishing|date=1985|page=99|chapter=Sit Down and Listen: The Story of Max Roach.}}</ref>
Roach nurtured an interest in and respect for [[Afro-Caribbean music]] and traveled to [[Haiti]] in the late 1940s to study with the traditional drummer [[Ti Roro]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Haydon|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Marks|first2=Dennis|title=A Celebration of African-American Music|publisher=Century Publishing|date=1985|page=99|chapter=Sit Down and Listen: The Story of Max Roach.}}</ref>
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Brown and Richie Powell were killed in a car accident on the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] in June 1956. The first album Roach recorded after their deaths was ''[[Max Roach + 4]]''. After Brown and Powell's deaths, Roach continued leading a similarly configured group, with [[Kenny Dorham]] (and later [[Booker Little]]) on trumpet, [[George Coleman]] on tenor, and pianist [[Ray Bryant]]. Roach expanded the standard form of hard bop using 3/4 [[waltz]] rhythms and modality in 1957 with his album ''[[Jazz in 3/4 Time]]''. During this period, Roach recorded a series of other albums for [[EmArcy Records]] featuring the brothers [[Stanley Turrentine|Stanley]] and [[Tommy Turrentine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzitude.com/hardbophist.htm|title=History of Jazz Part 6: Hard Bop|date=April 11, 2007|website=Jazzitude|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519143807/http://jazzitude.com/hardbophist.htm|archive-date=May 19, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>
Brown and Richie Powell were killed in a car accident on the [[Pennsylvania Turnpike]] in June 1956. The first album Roach recorded after their deaths was ''[[Max Roach + 4]]''. After Brown and Powell's deaths, Roach continued leading a similarly configured group, with [[Kenny Dorham]] (and later [[Booker Little]]) on trumpet, [[George Coleman]] on tenor, and pianist [[Ray Bryant]]. Roach expanded the standard form of hard bop using 3/4 [[waltz]] rhythms and modality in 1957 with his album ''[[Jazz in 3/4 Time]]''. During this period, Roach recorded a series of other albums for [[EmArcy Records]] featuring the brothers [[Stanley Turrentine|Stanley]] and [[Tommy Turrentine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jazzitude.com/hardbophist.htm|title=History of Jazz Part 6: Hard Bop|date=April 11, 2007|website=Jazzitude|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519143807/http://jazzitude.com/hardbophist.htm|archive-date=May 19, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>


In 1955, he played drums for vocalist [[Dinah Washington]] at several live appearances and recordings. He appeared with Washington at the [[Newport Jazz Festival]] in 1958, which was [[Jazz on a Summer's Day|filmed]], and at the 1954 live studio audience recording of ''[[Dinah Jams]]'', considered to be one of the best and most overlooked [[vocal jazz]] albums of its genre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hipjazz.com/joy_spring.htm|title=Joy Spring|website=Hipjazz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928101932/http://www.hipjazz.com/joy_spring.htm|archive-date=September 28, 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=October 26, 2011}}</ref>
In 1955, Roach played drums for vocalist [[Dinah Washington]] at several live appearances and recordings. He appeared with Washington at the [[Newport Jazz Festival]] in 1958, which was [[Jazz on a Summer's Day|filmed]], and at the 1954 live studio audience recording of ''[[Dinah Jams]]'', considered to be one of the best and most overlooked [[vocal jazz]] albums of its genre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hipjazz.com/joy_spring.htm|title=Joy Spring|website=Hipjazz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928101932/http://www.hipjazz.com/joy_spring.htm|archive-date=September 28, 2007|url-status=dead|access-date=October 26, 2011}}</ref>


===1960s–1970s===
===1960s–1970s===
In 1960 he composed and recorded the album ''[[We Insist!]]'' (subtitled ''Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite)'', with vocals by his then-wife [[Abbey Lincoln]] and lyrics by [[Oscar Brown Jr.]], after being invited to contribute to commemorations of the hundredth anniversary of [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s [[Emancipation Proclamation]]. In 1962, he recorded the album ''[[Money Jungle]]'', a collaboration with Mingus and [[Duke Ellington]]. This is generally regarded as one of the finest trio albums ever recorded.<ref>[http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/ellington2.htm "Duke Ellington Money Jungle Blue Note, Recorded 1962"]. ''Inkblot'' (magazine). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604170231/http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/ellington2.htm|date=June 4, 2008}}</ref>
In 1960, Roach composed and recorded the album ''[[We Insist!]]'' (subtitled ''Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite)'', with vocals by his then-wife [[Abbey Lincoln]] and lyrics by [[Oscar Brown Jr.]], after being invited to contribute to commemorations of the hundredth anniversary of [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s [[Emancipation Proclamation]]. In 1962, Roach recorded the album ''[[Money Jungle]]'', a collaboration with Mingus and [[Duke Ellington]]. This is generally regarded as one of the finest trio albums ever recorded.<ref>[http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/ellington2.htm "Duke Ellington Money Jungle Blue Note, Recorded 1962"]. ''Inkblot'' (magazine). {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604170231/http://www.inkblotmagazine.com/rev-archive/ellington2.htm|date=June 4, 2008}}</ref>


During the 1970s, Roach formed [[M'Boom]], a percussion orchestra. Each member composed for the ensemble and performed on multiple percussion instruments. Personnel included Fred King, [[Joe Chambers]], [[Warren Smith (jazz musician)|Warren Smith]], [[Freddie Waits]], [[Roy Brooks]], Omar Clay, [[Ray Mantilla]], Francisco Mora, and Eli Fountain.<ref name="aaj"/>
During the 1970s, Roach formed [[M'Boom]], a percussion orchestra. Each member composed for the ensemble and performed on multiple percussion instruments. Personnel included Fred King, [[Joe Chambers]], [[Warren Smith (jazz musician)|Warren Smith]], [[Freddie Waits]], [[Roy Brooks]], Omar Clay, [[Ray Mantilla]], Francisco Mora, and Eli Fountain.<ref name="aaj"/>
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===1980s–1990s===
===1980s–1990s===
[[Image:Max Roach Keystone 1979.jpg|320px|thumb|right|[[Keystone Korner]], [[San Francisco]], 1979]]
[[Image:Max Roach Keystone 1979.jpg|320px|thumb|left|[[Keystone Korner]], San Francisco, 1979]]
In the early 1980s, Roach began presenting solo concerts, demonstrating that multiple percussion instruments performed by one player could fulfill the demands of solo performance and be entirely satisfying to an audience. He created memorable compositions in these solo concerts, and a solo record was released by the Japanese jazz label Baystate. One of his solo concerts is available on a video, which also includes footage of a recording date for ''Chattahoochee Red'', featuring his working quartet, [[Odean Pope]], [[Cecil Bridgewater]], and Calvin Hill.
In the early 1980s, Roach began presenting solo concerts, demonstrating that multiple percussion instruments performed by one player could fulfill the demands of solo performance and be entirely satisfying to an audience. He created memorable compositions in these solo concerts, and a solo record was released by the Japanese jazz label Baystate. One of his solo concerts is available on a video, which also includes footage of a recording date for ''Chattahoochee Red'', featuring his working quartet, [[Odean Pope]], [[Cecil Bridgewater]], and Calvin Hill.


Roach also embarked on a series of duet recordings. Departing from the style he was best known for, most of the music on these recordings is free improvisation, created with [[Cecil Taylor]], [[Anthony Braxton]], [[Archie Shepp]], and [[Abdullah Ibrahim]]. Roach created duets with other performers, including: a recorded duet with oration of the "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech by [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]; a duet with [[video artist]] Kit Fitzgerald, who improvised video imagery while Roach created the music; a duet with his lifelong friend and associate Gillespie; and a duet concert recording with [[Mal Waldron]].
Roach also embarked on a series of duet recordings. Departing from the style he was best known for, most of the music on these recordings is free improvisation, created with [[Cecil Taylor]], [[Anthony Braxton]], [[Archie Shepp]], and [[Abdullah Ibrahim]]. Roach created duets with other performers, including: a recorded duet with oration of the "[[I Have a Dream]]" speech by [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]; a duet with [[video artist]] Kit Fitzgerald, who improvised video imagery while Roach created the music; a duet with his lifelong friend and associate Gillespie; and a duet concert recording with [[Mal Waldron]].


During the 1980s Roach also wrote music for theater, including plays by [[Sam Shepard]]. He was composer and [[Music director|musical director]] for a festival of Shepard plays, called "ShepardSets", at [[La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club]] in 1984. The festival included productions of ''Back Bog Beast Bait'', ''[[Angel City (play)|Angel City]]'', and ''[[Suicide in B Flat]]''.<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/2618 "Special Event: 'ShepardSets: A Festival of Sam Shepard Plays' (1984)"]. Retrieved August 29, 2018.</ref> In 1985, George Ferencz directed "Max Roach Live at La MaMa: A Multimedia Collaboration".<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/2777 "Production: 'Max Roach Live at La MaMa: A Multimedia Collaboration' (1985)"]. Retrieved August 29, 2018.</ref>
During the 1980s, Roach also wrote music for theater, including plays by [[Sam Shepard]]. Roach was composer and [[Music director|musical director]] for a festival of Shepard plays, called "ShepardSets", at [[La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club]] in 1984. The festival included productions of ''Back Bog Beast Bait'', ''[[Angel City (play)|Angel City]]'', and ''[[Suicide in B Flat]]''.<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/2618 "Special Event: 'ShepardSets: A Festival of Sam Shepard Plays' (1984)"]. Retrieved August 29, 2018.</ref> In 1985, George Ferencz directed "Max Roach Live at La MaMa: A Multimedia Collaboration".<ref>La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Occurrences/2777 "Production: 'Max Roach Live at La MaMa: A Multimedia Collaboration' (1985)"]. Retrieved August 29, 2018.</ref>


Roach found new contexts for performance, creating unique musical ensembles. One of these groups was "The Double Quartet", featuring his regular performing quartet with the same personnel as above, except Tyrone Brown replaced Hill. This quartet joined "The Uptown String Quartet", led by his daughter Maxine Roach and featuring Diane Monroe, Lesa Terry, and [[Eileen Folson]].
Roach found new contexts for performance, creating unique musical ensembles. One of these groups was "The Double Quartet", featuring his regular performing quartet with the same personnel as above, except Tyrone Brown replaced Hill. This quartet joined "The Uptown String Quartet", led by his daughter Maxine Roach and featuring Diane Monroe, Lesa Terry, and [[Eileen Folson]].
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Another ensemble was the "So What Brass Quintet", a group comprising five brass instrumentalists and Roach, with no [[chordal instrument]] and no bass player. Much of the performance consisted of drums and horn duets. The ensemble consisted of two trumpets, trombone, [[French horn]], and tuba. Personnel included [[Cecil Bridgewater]], Frank Gordon, [[Eddie Henderson (musician)|Eddie Henderson]], Rod McGaha, [[Steve Turre]], [[Delfeayo Marsalis]], [[Bob Stewart (musician)|Robert Stewart]], Tony Underwood, Marshall Sealy, Mark Taylor, and Dennis Jeter.
Another ensemble was the "So What Brass Quintet", a group comprising five brass instrumentalists and Roach, with no [[chordal instrument]] and no bass player. Much of the performance consisted of drums and horn duets. The ensemble consisted of two trumpets, trombone, [[French horn]], and tuba. Personnel included [[Cecil Bridgewater]], Frank Gordon, [[Eddie Henderson (musician)|Eddie Henderson]], Rod McGaha, [[Steve Turre]], [[Delfeayo Marsalis]], [[Bob Stewart (musician)|Robert Stewart]], Tony Underwood, Marshall Sealy, Mark Taylor, and Dennis Jeter.


Not content to expand on the music he was already known for, Roach spent the 1980s and 1990s finding new forms of musical expression and performance. He performed a [[concerto]] with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]. He wrote for and performed with the Walter White gospel choir and the John Motley Singers. He also performed with dance companies, including the [[Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater]], the [[Dianne McIntyre]] Dance Company, and the [[Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company]]. He surprised his fans by performing in a [[hip hop]] concert featuring [[Fab Five Freddy]] and the New York Break Dancers. Roach expressed the insight that there was a strong kinship between the work of these young black artists and the art he had pursued all his life.<ref name=":0" />
Not content to expand on the music he was already known for, Roach spent the 1980s and 1990s finding new forms of musical expression and performance. He performed a [[concerto]] with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]]. He wrote for and performed with the Walter White gospel choir and the John Motley Singers. He also performed with dance companies, including the [[Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater]], the [[Dianne McIntyre]] Dance Company, and the [[Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company]]. He surprised his fans by performing in a [[hip-hop]] concert featuring [[Fab Five Freddy]] and the New York Break Dancers. Roach expressed the insight that there was a strong kinship between the work of these young black artists and the art he had pursued all his life.<ref name=":0" />


Though Roach played with many types of ensembles, he always continued to play jazz. He performed with the Beijing Trio, with pianist [[Jon Jang]] and [[erhu]] player [[Jiebing Chen|Jeibing Chen]]. His final recording, ''Friendship'', was with trumpeter [[Clark Terry]]. The two were longtime friends and collaborators in duet and quartet. Roach's final performance was at the 50th anniversary celebration of the original [[Massey Hall]] concert, with Roach performing solo on the [[hi-hat]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=12055|title=Friendship|date=July 25, 2003|website=All About Jazz|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>
Though Roach played with many types of ensembles, he always continued to play jazz. He performed with the Beijing Trio, with pianist [[Jon Jang]] and [[erhu]] player [[Jiebing Chen|Jeibing Chen]]. His final recording, ''Friendship'', was with trumpeter [[Clark Terry]]. The two were longtime friends and collaborators in duet and quartet. Roach's final performance was at the 50th anniversary celebration of the original [[Massey Hall]] concert, with Roach performing solo on the [[hi-hat]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=12055|title=Friendship|date=July 25, 2003|website=All About Jazz|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>


In 1994, Roach appeared on [[Rush (band)|Rush]] drummer [[Neil Peart]]'s ''[[Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich|Burning for Buddy]],'' performing "The Drum Also Waltzes" Parts 1 and 2 on [[Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich|Volume 1]] of the 2-volume [[tribute album]] during the 1994 All-Star recording sessions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/|title=The Friday Papers|date=August 27, 2007|website=Beachwood Reporter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222221438/http://beachwoodreporter.com/|archive-date=February 22, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>
In 1994, Roach appeared on [[Rush (band)|Rush]] drummer [[Neil Peart]]'s ''[[Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich|Burning for Buddy]]'', performing "The Drum Also Waltzes" Parts 1 and 2 on [[Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich|Volume 1]] of the two-volume [[tribute album]] during the 1994 All-Star recording sessions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/|title=The Friday Papers|date=August 27, 2007|website=Beachwood Reporter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222221438/http://beachwoodreporter.com/|archive-date=February 22, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref>


===Death===
===Death===
[[Image:Max Roach Grave 1024.jpg|thumb|300px|The grave of Max Roach]] In the early 2000s, Roach became less active due to the onset of [[hydrocephalus]]-related complications.
[[Image:Max Roach Grave 1024.jpg|thumb|300px|The grave of Max Roach]] In the early 2000s, Roach became less active due to the onset of [[hydrocephalus]]-related complications.


Roach died of complications related to [[Alzheimer's]] and [[dementia]] in Manhattan in the early morning of August 16, 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/arts/music/16cnd-roach.html?ei=5090&en=48adf94b947bc225&ex=1344916800&emc=rss&pagewanted=all|title=Max Roach, Master of Modern Jazz, Dies at 83|last=Keepnews|first=Peter|date=August 16, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 17, 2007}}</ref> He was survived by five children: sons Daryl and Raoul, and daughters Maxine, Ayo, and Dara. More than 1,900 people attended his funeral at [[Riverside Church]] on August 24, 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/arts/music/25roach.html|title=Max Roach Is Remembered for Music and More|newspaper=New York Times|date=August 25, 2007}}</ref> He was interred at the [[Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in [[The Bronx]].
Roach died of complications related to [[Alzheimer's]] and [[dementia]] in Manhattan in the early morning of August 16, 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/arts/music/16cnd-roach.html?ei=5090&en=48adf94b947bc225&ex=1344916800&emc=rss&pagewanted=all|title=Max Roach, Master of Modern Jazz, Dies at 83|last=Keepnews|first=Peter|date=August 16, 2007|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=August 17, 2007}}</ref> He was survived by five children: sons Daryl and Raoul, and daughters Maxine, Ayo, and Dara. More than 1,900 people attended his funeral at [[Riverside Church]] on August 24, 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/arts/music/25roach.html|title=Max Roach Is Remembered for Music and More|newspaper=The New York Times|first=Peter|last=Keepnews|date=August 25, 2007}}</ref> He was interred at the [[Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx|Woodlawn Cemetery]] in [[The Bronx]].


In a funeral tribute to Roach, then-[[Lieutenant Governor of New York]] [[David Paterson]] compared the musician's courage to that of [[Paul Robeson]], [[Harriet Tubman]], and [[Malcolm X]], saying that "No one ever wrote a bad thing about Max Roach's music or his aura until 1960, when he and Charlie Mingus protested the practices of the [[Newport Jazz Festival]]."<ref name="Democracy Now-2008-03-13-Paterson: Roach Eulogy">
In a funeral tribute to Roach, then-[[Lieutenant Governor of New York]] [[David Paterson]] compared the musician's courage to that of [[Paul Robeson]], [[Harriet Tubman]], and [[Malcolm X]], saying: "No one ever wrote a bad thing about Max Roach's music or his aura until 1960, when he and Charlie Mingus protested the practices of the [[Newport Jazz Festival]]."<ref name="Democracy Now-2008-03-13-Paterson: Roach Eulogy">
  {{cite news|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/13/david_paterson_invokes_paul_robeson_harriet|title=David Paterson Invokes Paul Robeson, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X in Remembrance of Jazz Legend Max Roach (Eulogy transcript)|last=Paterson|first=David|date=March 13, 2008|work=Democracy Now|access-date=March 18, 2008}}
  {{cite news|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2008/3/13/david_paterson_invokes_paul_robeson_harriet|title=David Paterson Invokes Paul Robeson, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X in Remembrance of Jazz Legend Max Roach (Eulogy transcript)|last=Paterson|first=David|date=March 13, 2008|work=Democracy Now|access-date=March 18, 2008}}
</ref>
</ref>


==Personal life==
==Personal life==
Roach's godson is artist, filmmaker and hip-hop pioneer, [[Fab Five Freddy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.openskyjazz.com/2019/07/fab-five-freddy-rap-hip-hop-pioneer/|title=Fab 5 Freddy – rap & hip hop pioneer with a jazz pedigree|date=July 17, 2019|website=Open Sky Jazz|access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref>


His godson is artist, filmmaker and hip-hop pioneer, [[Fab Five Freddy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.openskyjazz.com/2019/07/fab-five-freddy-rap-hip-hop-pioneer/|title=Fab 5 Freddy – rap & hip hop pioneer with a jazz pedigree|date=July 17, 2019|website=Open Sky Jazz|access-date=April 18, 2021}}</ref>
Roach had five children (in relationship order):  a son, Daryl, and a daughter, Maxine, from his first wife, Mildred Roach; another son, Raoul Jordu, from a relationship with singer Barbara Jai (Johnson); and twin daughters, Ayodele and Dara Rasheeda, from his third wife, Janus Adams Roach.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://aaregistry.org/story/drummer-max-roach-broke-new-ground-in-jazz/|title=Max Roach, Drummer, and Composer born|website=Aaregistry.org|access-date=October 16, 2025}}</ref>


From 1962 to 1970 Roach was married to singer [[Abbey Lincoln]]. His daughter Maxine, a violist, appeared on several of Lincoln's albums. In February 1961, Roach and Lincoln, along with others, burst into a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to protest the murder of [[Patrice Lumumba]], prime minister of the newly independent Congo.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chini|first=Maïthé|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/1103100/how-jazz-played-out-over-congos-chaotic-coup|title="How Jazz Played Out Over Congo's Chaotic Coup,"|newspaper=The Brussels Times|date=January 23, 2025}}</ref>
From 1962 to 1970, Roach was married to singer [[Abbey Lincoln]]. His daughter Maxine, a violist, appeared on several of Lincoln's albums. In February 1961, Roach and Lincoln, along with others, burst into a meeting of the [[United Nations Security Council]] to protest the murder of [[Patrice Lumumba]], prime minister of the newly independent Congo.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chini|first=Maïthé|url=https://www.brusselstimes.com/1103100/how-jazz-played-out-over-congos-chaotic-coup|title=How Jazz Played Out Over Congo's Chaotic Coup|newspaper=[[The Brussels Times]]|date=January 23, 2025}}</ref>  


Roach identified himself as a [[Muslim]] in an early 1970s interview with [[Art Taylor]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Arthur |title=Notes and Tones: Musician-to-musician interviews |date=1977 |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=106}}</ref>
Roach identified himself as a [[Muslim]] in an early 1970s interview with [[Art Taylor]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Arthur |title=Notes and Tones: Musician-to-musician interviews |date=1977 |publisher=Da Capo Press |page=106}}</ref>
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Roach's most significant innovations came in the 1940s, when he and [[Kenny Clarke]] devised a new concept of musical time. By playing the beat-by-beat pulse of standard 4/4 time on the [[ride cymbal]] instead of on the thudding [[bass drum]], Roach and Clarke developed a flexible, flowing rhythmic pattern that allowed soloists to play freely. This also created space for the drummer to insert dramatic accents on the [[snare drum]], [[crash cymbal]], and other components of the trap set.
Roach's most significant innovations came in the 1940s, when he and [[Kenny Clarke]] devised a new concept of musical time. By playing the beat-by-beat pulse of standard 4/4 time on the [[ride cymbal]] instead of on the thudding [[bass drum]], Roach and Clarke developed a flexible, flowing rhythmic pattern that allowed soloists to play freely. This also created space for the drummer to insert dramatic accents on the [[snare drum]], [[crash cymbal]], and other components of the trap set.


By matching his rhythmic attack with a tune's [[melody]], Roach brought a newfound subtlety of expression to the drums. He often shifted the dynamic emphasis from one part of his [[drum kit]] to another within a single phrase, creating a sense of tonal color and rhythmic surprise.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081601092.html|title=Jazz Musician Max Roach Dies at 83|last=Schudel|first=Matt|date=August 16, 2007|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=May 12, 2010}}</ref> Roach said of the drummer's unique positioning, "In no other society do they have one person play with all four limbs."<ref>''The Week'', August 31, 2007, p. 32.</ref>
By matching his rhythmic attack with a tune's [[melody]], Roach brought a newfound subtlety of expression to the drums. He often shifted the dynamic emphasis from one part of his [[drum kit]] to another within a single phrase, creating a sense of tonal color and rhythmic surprise.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081601092.html|title=Jazz Musician Max Roach Dies at 83|last=Schudel|first=Matt|date=August 16, 2007|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=May 12, 2010}}</ref> Roach said of the drummer's unique positioning: "In no other society do they have one person play with all four limbs."<ref>''The Week'', August 31, 2007, p. 32.</ref>


While this is common today, when Clarke and Roach introduced the concept in the 1940s it was revolutionary. "When Max Roach's first records with Charlie Parker were released by Savoy in 1945", jazz historian Burt Korall wrote in the ''Oxford Companion to Jazz'', "drummers experienced awe and puzzlement and even fear." One of those drummers, [[Stan Levey]], summed up Roach's importance: "I came to realize that, because of him, drumming no longer was just time, it was music."<ref name="autogenerated1" />
While this is common today, when Clarke and Roach introduced the concept in the 1940s it was revolutionary. "When Max Roach's first records with Charlie Parker were released by Savoy in 1945", jazz historian Burt Korall wrote in the ''Oxford Companion to Jazz'', "drummers experienced awe and puzzlement and even fear." One of those drummers, [[Stan Levey]], summed up Roach's importance: "I came to realize that, because of him, drumming no longer was just time, it was music."<ref name="autogenerated1" />


In 1966, with his album ''[[Drums Unlimited]]'' (which includes several tracks that are entirely drum solos) he demonstrated that drums can be a solo instrument able to play theme, variations, and rhythmically cohesive phrases. Roach described his approach to music as "the creation of organized sound."<ref name="aaj">{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=10725|title=Max Roach biography|website=All About Jazz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229025907/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=10725|archive-date=February 29, 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=April 23, 2008}}</ref> Roach's style has been a big influence on several jazz and rock drummers, most notably [[Joe Morello]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moderndrummer.com/2006/09/joe-morello/|title=Joe Morello: Revisiting A Master|date=September 25, 2006|website=Modern Drummer magazine|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Tony Williams (drummer)|Tony Williams]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHmDEwUmo_EC&dq=%22Art+Blakey+was+my+first+drum+idol%2C+but+Max+was+the+biggest.+%22&pg=PA79|title=The Drummer's Time: Conversations with the Great Drummers of Jazz|date=February 22, 2019|author=Rick Mattingly|access-date=January 27, 2023|page=79|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9780634001468 }}</ref> [[Peter Erskine]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/peter-erskine-up-front-in-time-and-on-call-peter-erskine-by-jim-worsley|title=Peter Erskine: Up Front, In Time, And On Call, Part 1|date=February 22, 2019|website=All About Jazz|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Billy Cobham]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sickdrummermagazine.com/news/off-beat-interviews/billy-cobham/|title=Billy Cobham|date=March 23, 2009|website=Sick Drummer magazine|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Ginger Baker]],<ref>{{Cite web| title=Ginger Baker interview November 2010| work=retrosellers.com| url=http://www.retrosellers.com/features337.htm| access-date=August 16, 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084429/http://www.retrosellers.com/features337.htm| archive-date=August 19, 2014| df=dmy-all}}</ref> and [[Mitch Mitchell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mikedolbear.com/groovers-and-shakers/groovers-and-shakers-mitch-mitchell/|title=Mitch Mitchell|date=April 15, 2017|website=Mike Dolbear|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> The track "The Drum Also Waltzes" was often quoted by [[John Bonham]] in his ''[[Moby Dick (instrumental)|Moby Dick]]'' drum solo and revisited by other drummers, including [[Neil Peart]] and [[Steve Smith (musician)|Steve Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/john-bonhams-influences/|title=Stanton Moore On John Bonham's Influences|date=April 29, 2013|website=Drum Magazine|access-date=October 15, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2009/12/max-roach-2/|title=Max Roach: Setting Standards And Raising Bars|date=December 10, 2009|website=Modern Drummer|access-date=October 17, 2016}}</ref> [[Bill Bruford]] performed a cover of the track on the 1985 album ''[[Flags (Moraz and Bruford album)|Flags]]''.
In 1966, with his album ''[[Drums Unlimited]]'' (which includes several tracks that are entirely drum solos) he demonstrated that drums can be a solo instrument able to play theme, variations, and rhythmically cohesive phrases. Roach described his approach to music as "the creation of organized sound."<ref name="aaj">{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=10725|title=Max Roach biography|website=All About Jazz|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080229025907/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=10725|archive-date=February 29, 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=April 23, 2008}}</ref> Roach's style has been a big influence on several jazz and rock drummers, most notably [[Joe Morello]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moderndrummer.com/2006/09/joe-morello/|title=Joe Morello: Revisiting A Master|date=September 25, 2006|website=Modern Drummer magazine|first=John |last=Riley|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Tony Williams (drummer)|Tony Williams]],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uHmDEwUmo_EC&dq=%22Art+Blakey+was+my+first+drum+idol%2C+but+Max+was+the+biggest.+%22&pg=PA79|title=The Drummer's Time: Conversations with the Great Drummers of Jazz|date=February 22, 2019|author=Rick Mattingly|access-date=January 27, 2023|page=79|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=9780634001468 }}</ref> [[Jack DeJohnette]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Jack DeJohnette: Biography |url=http://www.jackdejohnette.com/biography|access-date=April 24, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308043130/http://www.jackdejohnette.com/biography|archive-date=March 8, 2012}}</ref> [[Peter Erskine]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/peter-erskine-up-front-in-time-and-on-call-peter-erskine-by-jim-worsley|title=Peter Erskine: Up Front, In Time, And On Call, Part 1|date=February 22, 2019|website=All About Jazz|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Billy Cobham]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sickdrummermagazine.com/news/off-beat-interviews/billy-cobham/|title=Billy Cobham|date=March 23, 2009|website=Sick Drummer magazine|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> [[Ginger Baker]],<ref>{{Cite web| title=Ginger Baker interview November 2010| work=retrosellers.com| url=http://www.retrosellers.com/features337.htm| access-date=August 16, 2014| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084429/http://www.retrosellers.com/features337.htm| archive-date=August 19, 2014| df=dmy-all}}</ref> and [[Mitch Mitchell]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mikedolbear.com/groovers-and-shakers/groovers-and-shakers-mitch-mitchell/|title=Mitch Mitchell|date=April 15, 2017|website=Mike Dolbear|access-date=January 27, 2023}}</ref> The track "The Drum Also Waltzes" was often quoted by [[John Bonham]] in his ''[[Moby Dick (instrumental)|Moby Dick]]'' drum solo and revisited by other drummers, including [[Neil Peart]] and [[Steve Smith (musician)|Steve Smith]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.drummagazine.com/features/post/john-bonhams-influences/|title=Stanton Moore On John Bonham's Influences|date=April 29, 2013|website=Drum Magazine|access-date=October 15, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moderndrummer.com/site/2009/12/max-roach-2/|title=Max Roach: Setting Standards And Raising Bars|date=December 10, 2009|website=Modern Drummer|access-date=October 17, 2016}}</ref> [[Bill Bruford]] performed a cover of the track on the 1985 album ''[[Flags (Moraz and Bruford album)|Flags]]''.


==Honors==
==Honors and legacy==
Roach was given a [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Genius Grant]] in 1988 and cited as a Commander of the [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] in France in 1989.<ref>[http://www.ina.fr/art-et-culture/musique/video/CAC90004576/jazz.fr.html Medals ceremony (video)] ''Ina'' (French), 1989.</ref> He was twice awarded the French [[Grand Prix du Disque]], was elected to the International Percussive Art Society's Hall of Fame and the [[DownBeat]] Hall of Fame, and was awarded Harvard Jazz Master. In 2008, he was awarded the [[Grammy]] Lifetime Achievement Award by the [[Recording Academy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards|title=Lifetime Achievement Award |website=Grammy.com|access-date=January 10, 2025}}</ref>  He was celebrated by [[Aaron Davis Hall]] and was given eight [[honorary doctorate degree]]s, including degrees awarded by [[Wesleyan University]], [[Medgar Evers College]], [[CUNY]], the [[University of Bologna]], and [[Columbia University]], in addition to his [[alma mater]], the [[Manhattan School of Music]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol26/vol26_iss20/2620_8_Honorary_Degrees.html|title=University to Award 8 Honorary Degrees at Graduation on May 16|date=April 9, 2001|work=[[Columbia University Record]]|access-date=August 16, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wesleyan.edu/about/history-traditions/speakers.html#5 | title=Past Honorary Degree Recipients, About - Wesleyan University|website=Wesleyan.edu }}</ref>
[[File:Max Roach.jpg|thumb|Roach in 2000]]
Roach was given a [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Genius Grant]] in 1988 and cited as a Commander of the [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] in France in 1989.<ref>[http://www.ina.fr/art-et-culture/musique/video/CAC90004576/jazz.fr.html Medals ceremony (video)] ''Ina'' (French), 1989.</ref> He was twice awarded the French [[Grand Prix du Disque]], was elected to the [[Percussive Arts Society]]'s Hall of Fame and the [[DownBeat]] Hall of Fame, and was awarded Harvard Jazz Master. In 2008, he was awarded the [[Grammy]] Lifetime Achievement Award by the [[Recording Academy]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards|title=Lifetime Achievement Award |website=Grammy.com|access-date=January 10, 2025}}</ref>  He was celebrated by [[Aaron Davis Hall]] and was given eight [[honorary doctorate degree]]s, including degrees awarded by [[Wesleyan University]], [[Medgar Evers College]], [[CUNY]], the [[University of Bologna]], and [[Columbia University]], in addition to his [[alma mater]], the [[Manhattan School of Music]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol26/vol26_iss20/2620_8_Honorary_Degrees.html|title=University to Award 8 Honorary Degrees at Graduation on May 16|date=April 9, 2001|work=[[Columbia University Record]]|access-date=August 16, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wesleyan.edu/about/history-traditions/speakers.html#5 | title=Past Honorary Degree Recipients, About - Wesleyan University|website=Wesleyan.edu }}</ref>


In 1986, the [[London]] borough of [[Lambeth]] named [[Max Roach Park|a park]] in [[Brixton]] after Roach.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=23560|title=Max Roach Park|date=October 28, 2006|website=All About Jazz|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/places/max-roach-park|title=London Borough of Lambeth &#124; Max Roach Park|publisher=Lambeth.gov.uk|access-date=November 3, 2015}}</ref> Roach was able to officially open the park when he visited London in March of that year by invitation from the [[Greater London Council]].<ref>[[Val Wilmer]], [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/sep/08/guardianobituaries.obituaries letter to ''The Guardian''], September 8, 2007. "It was on the initiative of then Labour councillor Sharon Atkin that Lambeth council named 27 sites in the borough in 1986 to acknowledge contributions by people of African descent.... The opening of the Brixton park coincided with Roach's GLC-sponsored visit to London, happily enabling him to attend the opening in the company of Atkin and his old friend, the drummer Ken Gordon, uncle of [[Moira Stuart]]."</ref> During that trip, he performed at a concert at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] along with [[Ghana]]ian master drummer [[Ghanaba]] and others.<ref>Jon Lusk, [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kofi-ghanaba-drummer-who-pioneered-afrojazz-1640302.html "Kofi Ghanaba: Drummer who pioneered Afro-jazz"], ''[[The Independent]]'', March 9, 2009.</ref><ref>Every Generation (February 20, 2017), [https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/interviews/origins-black-history-akyaaba-addai-sebo-interview/ "The Origins of Black History – An Interview with Akyaaba Addai-Sebo"], ''Black History Month Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2023.</ref>
In 1986, the [[London]] borough of [[Lambeth]] named [[Max Roach Park|a park]] in [[Brixton]] after Roach.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=23560|title=Max Roach Park|date=October 28, 2006|website=All About Jazz|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/places/max-roach-park|title=London Borough of Lambeth &#124; Max Roach Park|publisher=Lambeth.gov.uk|access-date=November 3, 2015}}</ref> Roach was able to officially open the park when he visited London in March of that year by invitation from the [[Greater London Council]].<ref>[[Val Wilmer]], [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/sep/08/guardianobituaries.obituaries letter to ''The Guardian''], September 8, 2007. "It was on the initiative of then Labour councillor Sharon Atkin that Lambeth council named 27 sites in the borough in 1986 to acknowledge contributions by people of African descent.... The opening of the Brixton park coincided with Roach's GLC-sponsored visit to London, happily enabling him to attend the opening in the company of Atkin and his old friend, the drummer Ken Gordon, uncle of [[Moira Stuart]]."</ref> During that trip, he performed at a concert at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] along with [[Ghana]]ian master drummer [[Ghanaba]] and others.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jon |last=Lusk|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kofi-ghanaba-drummer-who-pioneered-afrojazz-1640302.html |title=Kofi Ghanaba: Drummer who pioneered Afro-jazz|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=March 9, 2009}}</ref><ref>Every Generation (February 20, 2017), [https://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk/article/section/interviews/origins-black-history-akyaaba-addai-sebo-interview/ "The Origins of Black History – An Interview with Akyaaba Addai-Sebo"], ''Black History Month Magazine''. Retrieved January 7, 2023.</ref>


Roach spent his later years living at the Mill Basin Sunrise assisted living home in Brooklyn, and was honored with a proclamation honoring his musical achievements by Brooklyn [[borough president]] [[Marty Markowitz]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/Press/2006/mar24.htm|title=Brooklyn Borough President|website=Brooklyn-USA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001193339/http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/Press/2006/mar24.htm|archive-date=October 1, 2006|url-status=dead|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref> Roach was inducted into the [[North Carolina Music Hall of Fame]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=2009 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2009-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|access-date=September 10, 2012}}</ref>
Roach spent his later years living at the Mill Basin Sunrise assisted living home in Brooklyn, and was honored with a proclamation honoring his musical achievements by Brooklyn [[borough president]] [[Marty Markowitz]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/Press/2006/mar24.htm|title=Brooklyn Borough President|website=Brooklyn-USA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001193339/http://www.brooklyn-usa.org/Press/2006/mar24.htm|archive-date=October 1, 2006|url-status=dead|access-date=March 21, 2011}}</ref> Roach was inducted into the [[North Carolina Music Hall of Fame]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=2009 Inductees|url=http://northcarolinamusichalloffame.org/category/inductees/2009-inductees/|publisher=North Carolina Music Hall of Fame|access-date=September 10, 2012}}</ref>


In 2023, Roach was the subject of a documentary feature film ''[[Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes]]'', which premiered at South by Southwest and was nationally broadcast on the PBS series American Masters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skinner |first=Joe |date=March 13, 2023 |title=Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes - Watch the documentary now! {{!}} American Masters {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/max-roach-the-drum-also-waltzes-film/26469/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=American Masters |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 2023, Roach was the subject of a documentary feature film ''[[Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes]]'', which premiered at South by Southwest and was nationally broadcast on the PBS series American Masters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Skinner |first=Joe |date=March 13, 2023 |title=Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes - Watch the documentary now! {{!}} American Masters |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/max-roach-the-drum-also-waltzes-film/26469/ |access-date=October 14, 2023 |website=American Masters |language=en-US}}</ref>
 
Roach and his album ''We Insist!'' feature significantly throughout the 2024 documentary film ''[[Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat]]'', directed by [[ Johan Grimonprez]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/31/movies/soundtrack-to-a-coup-detat-review.html|title='Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat' Review: What Lies Beneath|newspaper=The new York Times|first=Alissa|last=Wilkinson|date=October 31, 2024|access-date=August 21, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tribunemag.co.uk/2025/02/the-empire-was-hidden-in-belgium-it-was-called-the-empire-of-silence|title='The Empire was hidden in Belgium. It was called the Empire of Silence.' {{!}} An interview with Johan Grimonprez|website=tribunemag.co.uk|interviewer=Stewart Smith|date=February 25, 2025|access-date=August 21, 2025}}</ref>


== Discography ==
== Discography ==
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* 1953: ''[[The Max Roach Quartet featuring Hank Mobley]]'' ([[Debut Records|Debut]], 1954)
* 1953: ''[[The Max Roach Quartet featuring Hank Mobley]]'' ([[Debut Records|Debut]], 1954)
* 1956: ''[[Max Roach + 4]]'' ([[EmArcy Records|EmArcy]], 1956)
* 1956: ''[[Max Roach + 4]]'' ([[EmArcy Records|EmArcy]], 1956)
* 1956-57: ''[[Jazz in 3/4 Time]]'' (EmArcy, 1957)
* 1956–57: ''[[Jazz in 3/4 Time]]'' (EmArcy, 1957)
* 1957-58: ''[[The Max Roach 4 Plays Charlie Parker]]'' (EmArcy, 1959)
* 1957–58: ''[[The Max Roach 4 Plays Charlie Parker]]'' (EmArcy, 1959)
* 1957-58: ''Percussion Discussion'' with [[Art Blakey]] (Chess, 1976)[2LP]
* 1957–58: ''Percussion Discussion'', with [[Art Blakey]] (Chess, 1976)[2LP]
* 1958: ''[[MAX (album)|MAX]]'' ([[Argo Records|Argo]], 1958)
* 1958: ''[[MAX (album)|MAX]]'' ([[Argo Records|Argo]], 1958)
* 1958: ''[[Max Roach + 4 on the Chicago Scene]]'' ([[Mercury Records|Mercury]], 1958)
* 1958: ''[[Max Roach + 4 on the Chicago Scene]]'' ([[Mercury Records|Mercury]], 1958)
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* 1958: ''[[Deeds, Not Words]]'' ([[Riverside Records|Riverside]]) – also released as ''Conversation'' (Jazzland, 1963)
* 1958: ''[[Deeds, Not Words]]'' ([[Riverside Records|Riverside]]) – also released as ''Conversation'' (Jazzland, 1963)
* 1958: ''[[Award-Winning Drummer]]'' ([[Time Records|Time]], 1959) – also released as ''Max Roach'' (Time, 1962)
* 1958: ''[[Award-Winning Drummer]]'' ([[Time Records|Time]], 1959) – also released as ''Max Roach'' (Time, 1962)
* 1958: ''Max Roach/Bud Shank – Sessions'' with [[Bud Shank]] (Calliope, 1976)
* 1958: ''Max Roach/Bud Shank – Sessions'', with [[Bud Shank]] (Calliope, 1976)
* 1958: ''[[Booker Little 4 and Max Roach|The Defiant Ones]]'' with [[Booker Little]] (United Artists, 1959)
* 1958: ''[[Booker Little 4 and Max Roach|The Defiant Ones]]'', with [[Booker Little]] (United Artists, 1959)
* 1959: ''[[The Many Sides of Max]]'' (Mercury, 1964)
* 1959: ''[[The Many Sides of Max]]'' (Mercury, 1964)
* 1959: ''[[Rich Versus Roach]]'' with [[Buddy Rich]] (Mercury, 1959)
* 1959: ''[[Rich Versus Roach]]'', with [[Buddy Rich]] (Mercury, 1959)
* 1959: ''[[Quiet as It's Kept]]'' (Mercury, 1960)
* 1959: ''[[Quiet as It's Kept]]'' (Mercury, 1960)
* 1959: ''[[Moon Faced and Starry Eyed]]'' with [[Abbey Lincoln]] (Mercury, 1959)
* 1959: ''[[Moon Faced and Starry Eyed]]'', with [[Abbey Lincoln]] (Mercury, 1959)
* 1960: ''[[Long as You're Living]]'' ([[Enja Records|Enja]], 1984)
* 1960: ''[[Long as You're Living]]'' ([[Enja Records|Enja]], 1984)
* 1960: ''[[Parisian Sketches]]'' (Mercury, 1960)
* 1960: ''[[Parisian Sketches]]'' (Mercury, 1960)
* 1960: ''[[We Insist!]]'' ([[Candid Records|Candid]], 1960)
* 1960: ''[[We Insist!]]'' ([[Candid Records|Candid]], 1960)
* 1961: ''[[Percussion Bitter Sweet]]'' with [[Mal Waldron]] ([[Impulse! Records|Impulse!]], 1961)
* 1961: ''[[Percussion Bitter Sweet]]'', with [[Mal Waldron]] ([[Impulse! Records|Impulse!]], 1961)
* 1962: ''[[It's Time (Max Roach album)|It's Time]]'' with Mal Waldron (Impulse!, 1962)
* 1962: ''[[It's Time (Max Roach album)|It's Time]]'', with Mal Waldron (Impulse!, 1962)
* 1962: ''[[Speak, Brother, Speak!]]'' ([[Fantasy Records|Fantasy]], 1963)
* 1962: ''[[Speak, Brother, Speak!]]'' ([[Fantasy Records|Fantasy]], 1963)
* 1964: ''[[The Max Roach Trio Featuring the Legendary Hasaan]]'' with [[Hasaan Ibn Ali]] ([[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]], 1965)
* 1964: ''[[The Max Roach Trio Featuring the Legendary Hasaan]]'', with [[Hasaan Ibn Ali]] ([[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]], 1965)
* 1965–66: ''[[Drums Unlimited]]'' (Atlantic, 1966)
* 1965–66: ''[[Drums Unlimited]]'' (Atlantic, 1966)
* 1968: ''[[Members, Don't Git Weary]]'' (Atlantic, 1968)
* 1968: ''[[Members, Don't Git Weary]]'' (Atlantic, 1968)
* 1971: ''[[Lift Every Voice and Sing (album)|Lift Every Voice and Sing]]'' with the J.C. White Singers (Atlantic, 1971)
* 1971: ''[[Lift Every Voice and Sing (album)|Lift Every Voice and Sing]]'', with the J.C. White Singers (Atlantic, 1971)
* 1976: ''Force'' with [[Archie Shepp]] (Uniteledis, 1976)[2LP]
* 1976: ''Force'', with [[Archie Shepp]] (Uniteledis, 1976)[2LP]
* 1976: ''Nommo'' ([[Victor Records|Victor]], 1978)
* 1976: ''Nommo'' ([[Victor Records|Victor]], 1978)
* 1977: ''Live in Tokyo'' Vol.1 & Vol.2 ([[Denon Records|Denon]], 1977) – live
* 1977: ''Live in Tokyo'' Vol.1 & Vol.2 ([[Denon Records|Denon]], 1977) – live
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* 1977: '' Live In Amsterdam'' ([[Baystate Records|Baystate]], 1979) – live
* 1977: '' Live In Amsterdam'' ([[Baystate Records|Baystate]], 1979) – live
* 1977: ''Solos'' (Baystate, 1978)
* 1977: ''Solos'' (Baystate, 1978)
* 1977: ''Streams of Consciousness'' with [[Abdullah Ibrahim|Dollar Brand]] (Baystate, 1978)
* 1977: ''Streams of Consciousness'', with [[Abdullah Ibrahim|Dollar Brand]] (Baystate, 1978)
* 1978: ''Confirmation'' ([[Fluid Records|Fluid]], 1978)
* 1978: ''Confirmation'' ([[Fluid Records|Fluid]], 1978)
* 1978: ''[[Birth and Rebirth]]'' with [[Anthony Braxton]] ([[Black Saint Records|Black Saint]], 1978)
* 1978: ''[[Birth and Rebirth]]'', with [[Anthony Braxton]] ([[Black Saint Records|Black Saint]], 1978)
* 1979: ''[[The Long March (album)|The Long March]]'' with [[Archie Shepp]] ([[Hathut Records|Hathut]], 1979) – live
* 1979: ''[[The Long March (album)|The Long March]]'', with [[Archie Shepp]] ([[Hathut Records|Hathut]], 1979) – live
* 1979: ''[[Historic Concerts]]'' with [[Cecil Taylor]] (Black Saint, 1984) – live
* 1979: ''[[Historic Concerts]]'', with [[Cecil Taylor]] (Black Saint, 1984) – live
* 1979: ''[[One in Two – Two in One]]'' with [[Anthony Braxton]] (Hathut, 1979) – live
* 1979: ''[[One in Two – Two in One]]'', with [[Anthony Braxton]] (Hathut, 1979) – live
* 1979: ''[[Pictures in a Frame]]'' ([[Soul Note Records|Soul Note]]9) – live
* 1979: ''[[Pictures in a Frame]]'' ([[Soul Note Records|Soul Note]]9) – live
* 1981?: ''Chattahoochee Red'' ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]], 1981)
* 1981?: ''Chattahoochee Red'' ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]], 1981)
* 1981: ''Live at Blues Alley'' ([[MVD Entertainment Group|MVD Visual]], 2011)[DVD-Video] – live
* 1981: ''Live at Blues Alley'' ([[MVD Entertainment Group|MVD Visual]], 2011)[DVD-Video] – live
* 1982: ''Swish'' with [[Connie Crothers]] ([[New Artists Records|New Artists]], 1982)
* 1982: ''Swish'', with [[Connie Crothers]] ([[New Artists Records|New Artists]], 1982)
* 1982: ''[[In the Light (Max Roach album)|In the Light]]'' (Soul Note, 1982)
* 1982: ''[[In the Light (Max Roach album)|In the Light]]'' (Soul Note, 1982)
* 1983: ''[[Live at Vielharmonie]]'' (Soul Note, 1985) – live
* 1983: ''[[Live at Vielharmonie]]'' (Soul Note, 1985) – live
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* 1985: ''[[Easy Winners (album)|Easy Winners]]'' (Soul Note, 1985)
* 1985: ''[[Easy Winners (album)|Easy Winners]]'' (Soul Note, 1985)
* 1986: ''[[Bright Moments (Max Roach album)|Bright Moments]]'' (Soul Note, 1986)
* 1986: ''[[Bright Moments (Max Roach album)|Bright Moments]]'' (Soul Note, 1986)
* 1989: ''[[Max + Dizzy: Paris 1989]]'' with [[Dizzy Gillespie]] ([[A&M Records|A&M]], 1990) – live
* 1989: ''[[Max + Dizzy: Paris 1989]]'', with [[Dizzy Gillespie]] ([[A&M Records|A&M]], 1990) – live
* 1991: ''[[To the Max!]]'' (Enja, 1992)
* 1991: ''[[To the Max!]]'' (Enja, 1992)
* 1993, 95: ''With the New Orchestra of Boston and the So What Brass Quintet'' ([[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]], 1996)
* 1993, 95: ''With the New Orchestra of Boston and the So What Brass Quintet'' ([[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]], 1996)
* 1999?: ''Beijing Trio'' with [[Jon Jang]], [[Jiebing Chen]] ([[Asian Improv Records|Asian Improv]], 1999)
* 1999?: ''Beijing Trio'', with [[Jon Jang]], [[Jiebing Chen]] ([[Asian Improv Records|Asian Improv]], 1999)
* 2002?: ''Friendship'' with [[Clark Terry]] (Columbia, 2002)
* 2002?: ''Friendship'', with [[Clark Terry]] (Columbia, 2002)
{{col-2}}
{{col-2}}
'''Co-leader with [[Clifford Brown]]''' <br />
'''Co-leader with [[Clifford Brown]]''' <br />
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* 1954: ''[[Best Coast Jazz]]'' ([[EmArcy Records|EmArcy]], 1956)
* 1954: ''[[Best Coast Jazz]]'' ([[EmArcy Records|EmArcy]], 1956)
* 1954: ''[[Clifford Brown All Stars]]'' ([EmArcy, 1956)
* 1954: ''[[Clifford Brown All Stars]]'' ([EmArcy, 1956)
* 1954: ''[[Jam Session (album)|Jam Session]]'' with [[Maynard Ferguson]] and [[Clark Terry]] (EmArcy, 1954)
* 1954: ''[[Jam Session (album)|Jam Session]]'', with [[Maynard Ferguson]] and [[Clark Terry]] (EmArcy, 1954)
* 1954: ''[[Brown and Roach Incorporated]]'' (EmArcy, 1955)
* 1954: ''[[Brown and Roach Incorporated]]'' (EmArcy, 1955)
* 1954: ''[[Daahoud]]'' ([[Mainstream Records]], 1973)
* 1954: ''[[Daahoud]]'' ([[Mainstream Records]], 1973)
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* 1955: ''[[Clifford Brown with Strings]]'' (EmArcy, 1955)
* 1955: ''[[Clifford Brown with Strings]]'' (EmArcy, 1955)
* 1955: ''[[Study in Brown]]'' (EmArcy, 1955)
* 1955: ''[[Study in Brown]]'' (EmArcy, 1955)
* 1955: ''Raw Genius - Live at Bee Hive Chicago 1955'' Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 with Max Roach (Victor, 1977) – Japan only
* 1955: ''Raw Genius - Live at Bee Hive Chicago 1955'' Vol. 1 & Vol. 2, with Max Roach (Victor, 1977) – Japan only
* 1955: ''Live at The Bee Hive'' (Columbia, 1979)[2LP] – the same recording source
* 1955: ''Live at The Bee Hive'' (Columbia, 1979)[2LP] – the same recording source
* 1956: ''[[Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street]]'' (EmArcy, 1956)
* 1956: ''[[Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street]]'' (EmArcy, 1956)
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'''With [[Duke Ellington]]'''
'''With [[Duke Ellington]]'''
* ''[[Paris Blues#Soundtrack|Paris Blues]]'' ([[United Artists Records|United Artists]], 1961)
* ''[[Paris Blues#Soundtrack|Paris Blues]]'' ([[United Artists Records|United Artists]], 1961)
* ''[[Money Jungle]]'' (United Artists, 1962) also with [[Charles Mingus]]
* ''[[Money Jungle]]'' (United Artists, 1962), also with [[Charles Mingus]]


'''With [[Stan Getz]]'''
'''With [[Stan Getz]]'''
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'''With [[Dizzy Gillespie]]'''
'''With [[Dizzy Gillespie]]'''
* ''[[Diz and Getz]]'' (Verve, 1953) – with [[Stan Getz]]
* ''[[Diz and Getz]]'' (Verve, 1953) – with [[Stan Getz]]
* ''[[The Bop Session]]'' ([[Sonet Records|Sonet]], 1975) with [[Sonny Stitt]], [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]], [[Hank Jones]] and [[Percy Heath]]
* ''[[The Bop Session]]'' ([[Sonet Records|Sonet]], 1975), with [[Sonny Stitt]], [[John Lewis (pianist)|John Lewis]], [[Hank Jones]] and [[Percy Heath]]


'''With [[Coleman Hawkins]]'''
'''With [[Coleman Hawkins]]'''
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'''With [[J.J. Johnson]]'''
'''With [[J.J. Johnson]]'''
* ''Mad Be Bop'' (Savoy, 1978)[2LP] – rec. 1946-54
* ''Mad Be Bop'' (Savoy, 1978)[2LP] – rec. 1946-54
* ''[[First Place]]'' (Columbia, 1957)
* ''[[First Place (album)|First Place]]'' (Columbia, 1957)


'''With [[Abbey Lincoln]]'''
'''With [[Abbey Lincoln]]'''
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'''With [[Bud Powell]]'''
'''With [[Bud Powell]]'''
* ''The Bud Powell Trip'' (1947)
* ''The Bud Powell Trio'' (1947)
* ''[[The Amazing Bud Powell]]'' (Blue Note, 1951)
* ''[[The Amazing Bud Powell]]'' (Blue Note, 1951)


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==References==
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
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*[http://www.kerouacalley.com/roach.html Max Roach] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527015131/http://www.kerouacalley.com/roach.html |date=May 27, 2009 }} multimedia directory
*[http://www.kerouacalley.com/roach.html Max Roach] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527015131/http://www.kerouacalley.com/roach.html |date=May 27, 2009 }} multimedia directory
*[https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Entities/12241 Max Roach] on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
*[https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Entities/12241 Max Roach] on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/arts/music/17roach.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin Max Roach] ''New York Times'' obituary
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/arts/music/17roach.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin Max Roach], ''The New York Times'' obituary
*[http://www.nysun.com/article/60744 Max Roach] ''New York Sun'' obituary
*[http://www.nysun.com/article/60744 Max Roach], ''New York Sun'' obituary
*[http://www.slate.com/id/2172543 Max Roach] ''Slate'' magazine article (2007)
*[http://www.slate.com/id/2172543 Max Roach], ''Slate'' magazine article (2007)


{{Max Roach}}
{{Max Roach}}
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[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American drummers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:African-American drummers]]
[[Category:African-American drummers]]
[[Category:African-American jazz musicians]]
[[Category:African-American Muslims]]
[[Category:American jazz drummers]]
[[Category:American jazz drummers]]
[[Category:African-American jazz musicians]]
[[Category:American male drummers]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Bebop drummers]]
[[Category:Bebop drummers]]
[[Category:Hard bop drummers]]
[[Category:Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni]]
[[Category:Post-bop drummers]]
[[Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:Manhattan School of Music alumni]]
[[Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Pasquotank County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Candid Records artists]]
[[Category:Candid Records artists]]
[[Category:Capitol Records artists]]
[[Category:Capitol Records artists]]
[[Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]
[[Category:Drummers from North Carolina]]
[[Category:EmArcy Records artists]]
[[Category:EmArcy Records artists]]
[[Category:Verve Records artists]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty]]
[[Category:Hard bop drummers]]
[[Category:20th-century American drummers]]
[[Category:American male drummers]]
[[Category:Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from North Carolina]]
[[Category:American male jazz musicians]]
[[Category:M'Boom members]]
[[Category:M'Boom members]]
[[Category:Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)]]
[[Category:MacArthur Fellows]]
[[Category:Drummers from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Manhattan School of Music alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Muslims from New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:African-American Muslims]]
[[Category:Converts to Islam]]
[[Category:Muslims from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Muslims from North Carolina]]
[[Category:Muslims from New York (state)]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]
[[Category:NEA Jazz Masters]]
[[Category:NEA Jazz Masters]]
[[Category:People from Pasquotank County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Post-bop drummers]]
[[Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty]]
[[Category:Verve Records artists]]

Latest revision as of 19:46, 28 October 2025

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherTemplate:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main other

Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924Template:Efn – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history.[1][2] He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Clifford Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, Benny Carter, and Booker Little. He also played with his daughter Maxine Roach, a Grammy-nominated violist. He was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1992.[3]

In the mid-1950s, Roach co-led a pioneering quintet along with trumpeter Clifford Brown. In 1970, Roach founded the percussion ensemble M'Boom.

Biography

Template:Moresources

Early life and career

Max Roach was born to Alphonse and Cressie Roach in the Township of Newland, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, which borders the southern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp. The Township of Newland is sometimes mistaken for Newland Town in Avery County, North Carolina.

Roach's family moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, when he was four years old. He grew up in a musical home with his gospel singer mother. He started to play bugle in parades at a young age. At the age of 10, he was already playing drums in some gospel bands.

In 1942, as an 18-year-old recently graduated from Boys High School in Brooklyn, he was called to fill in for Sonny Greer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra performing at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan. He started going to the jazz clubs on 52nd Street and at 78th Street & Broadway for Georgie Jay's Taproom, where he played with schoolmate Cecil Payne.[4] Roach's first professional recording took place in December 1943, backing Coleman Hawkins.[5]

Roach was one of the first drummers, along with Kenny Clarke, to play in the bebop style, and he performed in bands led by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, and Miles Davis. Roach played on many of Parker's most important records, including the Savoy Records November 1945 session, which marked a turning point in recorded jazz. His early brush work with Powell's trio, especially at fast tempos, has been highly praised.[6]

Roach nurtured an interest in and respect for Afro-Caribbean music and traveled to Haiti in the late 1940s to study with the traditional drummer Ti Roro.[7]

1950s

Roach studied classical percussion at the Manhattan School of Music from 1950 to 1953, working toward a Bachelor of Music degree. The school awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1990.

In 1952, Roach co-founded Debut Records with bassist Charles Mingus, one of the first artist-owned labels. The label released a record of a May 15, 1953, concert billed as "the greatest concert ever", which came to be known as Jazz at Massey Hall, featuring Parker, Gillespie, Powell, Mingus, and Roach. Also released on this label was the groundbreaking bass-and-drum free improvisation, Percussion Discussion.[8]

In 1954, Roach and trumpeter Clifford Brown formed a quintet that also featured tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Richie Powell (brother of Bud Powell), and bassist George Morrow. Land left the quintet the following year and was replaced by Sonny Rollins. The group was a prime example of the hard bop style also played by Art Blakey and Horace Silver. Later that year, he relocated to the Los Angeles area, where he replaced Shelly Manne in the popular Lighthouse All Stars.[9]

Brown and Richie Powell were killed in a car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in June 1956. The first album Roach recorded after their deaths was Max Roach + 4. After Brown and Powell's deaths, Roach continued leading a similarly configured group, with Kenny Dorham (and later Booker Little) on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor, and pianist Ray Bryant. Roach expanded the standard form of hard bop using 3/4 waltz rhythms and modality in 1957 with his album Jazz in 3/4 Time. During this period, Roach recorded a series of other albums for EmArcy Records featuring the brothers Stanley and Tommy Turrentine.[10]

In 1955, Roach played drums for vocalist Dinah Washington at several live appearances and recordings. He appeared with Washington at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958, which was filmed, and at the 1954 live studio audience recording of Dinah Jams, considered to be one of the best and most overlooked vocal jazz albums of its genre.[11]

1960s–1970s

In 1960, Roach composed and recorded the album We Insist! (subtitled Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite), with vocals by his then-wife Abbey Lincoln and lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr., after being invited to contribute to commemorations of the hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In 1962, Roach recorded the album Money Jungle, a collaboration with Mingus and Duke Ellington. This is generally regarded as one of the finest trio albums ever recorded.[12]

During the 1970s, Roach formed M'Boom, a percussion orchestra. Each member composed for the ensemble and performed on multiple percussion instruments. Personnel included Fred King, Joe Chambers, Warren Smith, Freddie Waits, Roy Brooks, Omar Clay, Ray Mantilla, Francisco Mora, and Eli Fountain.[13]

Long involved in jazz education, in 1972 Roach was recruited to the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst by Chancellor Randolph Bromery.[14] He taught at the university until the mid-1990s.[15]

1980s–1990s

File:Max Roach Keystone 1979.jpg
Keystone Korner, San Francisco, 1979

In the early 1980s, Roach began presenting solo concerts, demonstrating that multiple percussion instruments performed by one player could fulfill the demands of solo performance and be entirely satisfying to an audience. He created memorable compositions in these solo concerts, and a solo record was released by the Japanese jazz label Baystate. One of his solo concerts is available on a video, which also includes footage of a recording date for Chattahoochee Red, featuring his working quartet, Odean Pope, Cecil Bridgewater, and Calvin Hill.

Roach also embarked on a series of duet recordings. Departing from the style he was best known for, most of the music on these recordings is free improvisation, created with Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, and Abdullah Ibrahim. Roach created duets with other performers, including: a recorded duet with oration of the "I Have a Dream" speech by Martin Luther King Jr.; a duet with video artist Kit Fitzgerald, who improvised video imagery while Roach created the music; a duet with his lifelong friend and associate Gillespie; and a duet concert recording with Mal Waldron.

During the 1980s, Roach also wrote music for theater, including plays by Sam Shepard. Roach was composer and musical director for a festival of Shepard plays, called "ShepardSets", at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1984. The festival included productions of Back Bog Beast Bait, Angel City, and Suicide in B Flat.[16] In 1985, George Ferencz directed "Max Roach Live at La MaMa: A Multimedia Collaboration".[17]

Roach found new contexts for performance, creating unique musical ensembles. One of these groups was "The Double Quartet", featuring his regular performing quartet with the same personnel as above, except Tyrone Brown replaced Hill. This quartet joined "The Uptown String Quartet", led by his daughter Maxine Roach and featuring Diane Monroe, Lesa Terry, and Eileen Folson.

Another ensemble was the "So What Brass Quintet", a group comprising five brass instrumentalists and Roach, with no chordal instrument and no bass player. Much of the performance consisted of drums and horn duets. The ensemble consisted of two trumpets, trombone, French horn, and tuba. Personnel included Cecil Bridgewater, Frank Gordon, Eddie Henderson, Rod McGaha, Steve Turre, Delfeayo Marsalis, Robert Stewart, Tony Underwood, Marshall Sealy, Mark Taylor, and Dennis Jeter.

Not content to expand on the music he was already known for, Roach spent the 1980s and 1990s finding new forms of musical expression and performance. He performed a concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He wrote for and performed with the Walter White gospel choir and the John Motley Singers. He also performed with dance companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Dianne McIntyre Dance Company, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. He surprised his fans by performing in a hip-hop concert featuring Fab Five Freddy and the New York Break Dancers. Roach expressed the insight that there was a strong kinship between the work of these young black artists and the art he had pursued all his life.[2]

Though Roach played with many types of ensembles, he always continued to play jazz. He performed with the Beijing Trio, with pianist Jon Jang and erhu player Jeibing Chen. His final recording, Friendship, was with trumpeter Clark Terry. The two were longtime friends and collaborators in duet and quartet. Roach's final performance was at the 50th anniversary celebration of the original Massey Hall concert, with Roach performing solo on the hi-hat.[18]

In 1994, Roach appeared on Rush drummer Neil Peart's Burning for Buddy, performing "The Drum Also Waltzes" Parts 1 and 2 on Volume 1 of the two-volume tribute album during the 1994 All-Star recording sessions.[19]

Death

File:Max Roach Grave 1024.jpg
The grave of Max Roach

In the early 2000s, Roach became less active due to the onset of hydrocephalus-related complications.

Roach died of complications related to Alzheimer's and dementia in Manhattan in the early morning of August 16, 2007.[20] He was survived by five children: sons Daryl and Raoul, and daughters Maxine, Ayo, and Dara. More than 1,900 people attended his funeral at Riverside Church on August 24, 2007.[21] He was interred at the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx.

In a funeral tribute to Roach, then-Lieutenant Governor of New York David Paterson compared the musician's courage to that of Paul Robeson, Harriet Tubman, and Malcolm X, saying: "No one ever wrote a bad thing about Max Roach's music or his aura until 1960, when he and Charlie Mingus protested the practices of the Newport Jazz Festival."[22]

Personal life

Roach's godson is artist, filmmaker and hip-hop pioneer, Fab Five Freddy.[23]

Roach had five children (in relationship order): a son, Daryl, and a daughter, Maxine, from his first wife, Mildred Roach; another son, Raoul Jordu, from a relationship with singer Barbara Jai (Johnson); and twin daughters, Ayodele and Dara Rasheeda, from his third wife, Janus Adams Roach.[24]

From 1962 to 1970, Roach was married to singer Abbey Lincoln. His daughter Maxine, a violist, appeared on several of Lincoln's albums. In February 1961, Roach and Lincoln, along with others, burst into a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to protest the murder of Patrice Lumumba, prime minister of the newly independent Congo.[25]

Roach identified himself as a Muslim in an early 1970s interview with Art Taylor.[26]

Style

Roach started as a traditional grip player but favored matched grip as his career progressed.[27]

Roach's most significant innovations came in the 1940s, when he and Kenny Clarke devised a new concept of musical time. By playing the beat-by-beat pulse of standard 4/4 time on the ride cymbal instead of on the thudding bass drum, Roach and Clarke developed a flexible, flowing rhythmic pattern that allowed soloists to play freely. This also created space for the drummer to insert dramatic accents on the snare drum, crash cymbal, and other components of the trap set.

By matching his rhythmic attack with a tune's melody, Roach brought a newfound subtlety of expression to the drums. He often shifted the dynamic emphasis from one part of his drum kit to another within a single phrase, creating a sense of tonal color and rhythmic surprise.[1] Roach said of the drummer's unique positioning: "In no other society do they have one person play with all four limbs."[28]

While this is common today, when Clarke and Roach introduced the concept in the 1940s it was revolutionary. "When Max Roach's first records with Charlie Parker were released by Savoy in 1945", jazz historian Burt Korall wrote in the Oxford Companion to Jazz, "drummers experienced awe and puzzlement and even fear." One of those drummers, Stan Levey, summed up Roach's importance: "I came to realize that, because of him, drumming no longer was just time, it was music."[1]

In 1966, with his album Drums Unlimited (which includes several tracks that are entirely drum solos) he demonstrated that drums can be a solo instrument able to play theme, variations, and rhythmically cohesive phrases. Roach described his approach to music as "the creation of organized sound."[13] Roach's style has been a big influence on several jazz and rock drummers, most notably Joe Morello,[29] Tony Williams,[30] Jack DeJohnette,[31] Peter Erskine,[32] Billy Cobham,[33] Ginger Baker,[34] and Mitch Mitchell.[35] The track "The Drum Also Waltzes" was often quoted by John Bonham in his Moby Dick drum solo and revisited by other drummers, including Neil Peart and Steve Smith.[36][37] Bill Bruford performed a cover of the track on the 1985 album Flags.

Honors and legacy

File:Max Roach.jpg
Roach in 2000

Roach was given a MacArthur Genius Grant in 1988 and cited as a Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France in 1989.[38] He was twice awarded the French Grand Prix du Disque, was elected to the Percussive Arts Society's Hall of Fame and the DownBeat Hall of Fame, and was awarded Harvard Jazz Master. In 2008, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy.[39] He was celebrated by Aaron Davis Hall and was given eight honorary doctorate degrees, including degrees awarded by Wesleyan University, Medgar Evers College, CUNY, the University of Bologna, and Columbia University, in addition to his alma mater, the Manhattan School of Music.[40][41]

In 1986, the London borough of Lambeth named a park in Brixton after Roach.[42][43] Roach was able to officially open the park when he visited London in March of that year by invitation from the Greater London Council.[44] During that trip, he performed at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall along with Ghanaian master drummer Ghanaba and others.[45][46]

Roach spent his later years living at the Mill Basin Sunrise assisted living home in Brooklyn, and was honored with a proclamation honoring his musical achievements by Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz.[47] Roach was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2009.[48]

In 2023, Roach was the subject of a documentary feature film Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes, which premiered at South by Southwest and was nationally broadcast on the PBS series American Masters.[49]

Roach and his album We Insist! feature significantly throughout the 2024 documentary film Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, directed by Johan Grimonprez.[50][51]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

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Compilation

As a member

The Paris All-Stars
(with Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Jones, Milt Jackson, Percy Heath and Stan Getz)

  • Homage to Charlie Parker (A&M, 1990) – rec. 1989

As sideman

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Notes

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References

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External links

Template:Archival records

Template:Max Roach Template:Authority control

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  12. ↑ "Duke Ellington Money Jungle Blue Note, Recorded 1962". Inkblot (magazine). Template:Webarchive
  13. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ University of Massachusetts, "Randolph W. Bromery, Champion of Diversity, Du Bois and Jazz as UMass Amherst Chancellor, Dead at 87", February 27, 2013.
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Special Event: 'ShepardSets: A Festival of Sam Shepard Plays' (1984)". Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  17. ↑ La MaMa Archives Digital Collections. "Production: 'Max Roach Live at La MaMa: A Multimedia Collaboration' (1985)". Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  28. ↑ The Week, August 31, 2007, p. 32.
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  38. ↑ Medals ceremony (video) Ina (French), 1989.
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Val Wilmer, letter to The Guardian, September 8, 2007. "It was on the initiative of then Labour councillor Sharon Atkin that Lambeth council named 27 sites in the borough in 1986 to acknowledge contributions by people of African descent.... The opening of the Brixton park coincided with Roach's GLC-sponsored visit to London, happily enabling him to attend the opening in the company of Atkin and his old friend, the drummer Ken Gordon, uncle of Moira Stuart."
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Every Generation (February 20, 2017), "The Origins of Black History – An Interview with Akyaaba Addai-Sebo", Black History Month Magazine. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  50. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  51. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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