Max Roach
percussion
percussion
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Max Roach was one of the group
of musicians that established bebop as the dominant force in Jazz music
in the mid 40s. By the early 40s he was sitting in at Monroe's Uptown
House and Minton's Playhouse, as one of the musicians who helped to invent
bop. Along with Kenny Clarke he established a new drummers vocabulary.
In the early 40s Roach got jobs with veterans of the swing era such as
Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins ('43),
then his style changed when he joined the likes of Dizzy
Gillespie ('44) and Charlie Parker ('45)
His work from this period in particular demonstrates his inventiveness
and masterly technique. From '48-50 he was a member of Miles
Davis' group and participated in the legendary Birth of the Cool sessions.
Although he was a revolutionary influence on the young drummers of his
time, after the bop period, he was the only drummer (except for Art
Blakey) to operate consistently as a working band leader. Famous is
of course his collaboration with the legendary Clifford
Brown, whose sudden death in 1956 has a profound influence on him.
It took Roach several years to overcome this loss but in the late 50s
and early 60s Roach's Quintet included such artists as Kenny
Dorham and Sonny Rollins. All through
his career a wide variety of promising young artists passed through the
band's ranks and were subjected to his musical influence. He became involved
in political issues and civil rights and began composing. Inevitably his
work of this period took on elements of his commitment to Civil Rights
issues.