MAX MOTHERFUCKING ROACH 1924-2007 RIP

Oh wow

>Rollins is still out there, but he came in a little later, right?

Yeah, but they started partnering up pretty early on - Rollins was the second saxophonist in the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet (replacing Harold Land) starting in '55 or so.

I heard from Roach's publicist, btw.

fuck

Inevitable but sad. :(

Aw man, RIP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS-xiX64HGQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8syiOwwVyY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8JQ6y66h7w

i saw him play a solo set on just a ride cymbal at the albert hall in like 86

:(

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41J3TY1ESJL._AA240_.jpg

one of the best jazz records ever

Damn. RIP.

"I think this officially marks the passing of the last of the original bebop greats."

roy haynes would like a word with you...

anyway, rip. max was the coolest.

shit

RIP Mr. Roach.

Another one of the big ones gone ... RIP -- and yeah At Basin Street kills, esp. Roach (though Clifford and Sonny are great as well obviously). He's also great on that Ellington/Mingus/Roach record, Money Jungle. And you know, like 6 billion other classics. Always found that story about him picketing Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall to be an interesting snapshot of the times ...

fuuuuuck

:(

"I think this officially marks the passing of the last of the original bebop greats."

sonny rollins? or is he not considered enough of an og

Apologies to Mr. Haynes, of course.

Yeah, I think of "original" meaning more or less "playing bop in 45." As far as I know, Sonny didn't get on record in that way until 49.

Aw, man.

Those videos are amazing, esp. the ones with just the snare and hat.

Drum in peace.

This is sad; he was my father's favorite jazz drummer and when they were in town he would sit all night and draw the band on paper towels he got from the restroom - (this was in Los Angeles at place called Peacock Alley) and this inspired "Dr. Free-Zee" on Max Roach + Four.

Or so the family story goes; in any case, if you played with Roach then you were all right by him...

RIP, indeed.

I was fortunate enough to get to shake his hand after seeing him play the Bluenote in 1999. RIP.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blHXOPccRTU

NYT obit

RIP

major bummerz. "It's Time" & "Freedom Suite Now" are 2 of my fave jazz albums.

Hmm. I didn't see this before I started my own thread. Guess that one should be locked. Anyway, as I mentioned over there, he's probably one of the only guys who played with both Charlie Parker and Anthony Braxton.

Also played w/ Cecil.

:-(

he was teh best

god this fucking sucks. r.i.p.

Those videos are awesome. RIP

RIP

rest in peace, max.

so glad i got to see you play at least once.

If you haven't heard the Cecil/Max 2CD set of duos, go get it. Life-altering.

Also wanna throw a mention to Speak, Brother, Speak!.

M'BOOM
M'BOOM
M'BOOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VhQtgSZbsY

Love this album.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre400/e496/e49630lph7b.jpg

Man, this is the saddest I've been about a musician death in a long time.

end of an era pretty much.
I loved dude a lot.

I remember learning a while back that he was the first musician to do 5/4 jazz, but I can't remember what the tune was. Can anyone confirm this?

In any case Max's career was so brilliant that an *accomplishment* of that nature is almost insignificant.

wow @ that clip of Max + Fab Five Freddy in the video I just posted

This record is great:

http://abstractlogix.com/xcart/files/master/cd_covers/t_19297.jpg

So is this:

http://www.gutsofdarkness.com/_images/pochettes/769_8259.jpg

Totally sad. RIP.

Who was the Spin reporter who Max Roach would have beaten the hell out of - in his 60's - if Fab Five Freddy hadn't intervened?

Ongoing radio tribute here:

http://www.wkcr.com

I'm guessing they'll keep it going for at least a couple of days

o fuk sorry:

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wkcr/

> Who was the Spin reporter who Max Roach would have beaten the hell out of - in his 60's - if Fab Five Freddy hadn't intervened?

Man! I think that's the first time I heard of him. He was talking about Led Zeppelin samples, right? And Roach was insisting that LZ had no swing.

Probably the greatest jazz drummer ever. RIP

RIIIIP

The most distinctive drummer I've ever heard. I was driving along with my wife one day and turned on the radio and somebody was playing a drum solo. I'm not the most detail-oriented jazz d-bag in the world and don't have any records with Roach as leader, but after about 15 seconds I said "that's gotta be Max Roach." Turned out it was him on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz". Impressed the hell out of my wife, but really, who else's kit sounds like that?

the titan.

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c484/c484223d62d.jpg

^ this

the first jazz album I ever obsessed over:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/419J8CVKG9L._SS500_.jpg

WE INSIST this is a major bummer

Great clip of him teaching some v. young kids abt improv from Derek Bailey's C4 documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASRjqjsRuPo

Max + Fab Five Freddy

Saw this on TV in Belgium once, and I'd been looking for it ever since. Says so much about the guy that he was down with this stuff.

Sad.

Another giant gone. I remember that SPIN article, and Roach regrettably came across as kind of petulant and unreasonable, but I guess that's the prerogative of an authentic legend and genius.

I'll have to give We Insist! a spin tonight. And the Massey Hall quintet.

RIP

^love that Clifford Brown + Max Roach album, the one with 'Joy Spring'

Still bumming about this. Couldn't find a big enough image of cover of second volume of Drummin' Men to post. RIP.

nice tributes with mp3s here:
inkhornterm.blogspot.com/2007/08/max-roach-1924-2007-charlie-parker-ko.html
and here:
www.destination-out.com

RIP. (Believe it or not, despite my general cluelessness about jazz drumming, I've always mostly liked Max Roach's drumming. Definitely need to hear more.)

bunch of content here, too:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12866096
listening to the "piano jazz" show -- highly recommended!

*LEGENDARY JAZZ DRUMMER, MAX ROACH, TO BE REMEMBERED
AT RIVERSIDE CHURCH PUBLIC VIEWING AND FUNERAL ON FRIDAY
**Bill Cosby, Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou, Cassandra Wilson, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri
Baraka,
and Billy Taylor Among the Notables Paying Homage to Roach *

*
NEW YORK (August 23, 2007)**—*Bill Cosby, Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou, Cassandra
Wilson, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka and Billy Taylor will be among the
luminaries paying homage to the late jazz great Max Roach at his funeral on
Friday, August 24 at The Riverside Church in Manhattan. The daring and
innovative drummer, who died of complications of dementia/Alzheimer's
disease on Thursday, August 16 in New York City at the age of 83, will be
celebrated as he lived: in a ceremony awash with jazz, as performed by some
of his most beloved colleagues. Lieutenant Governor David A. Paterson will
speak at the event which will be presided over by The Rev. Dr. James
Alexander Forbes, Jr. Roach will be eulogized by the Rev. Calvin O. Butts
III.

The public viewing will run from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Friday and continue
with a public funeral service from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Roach, who is
survived by his five children – Daryl Keith Roach, Maxine Roach, Raoul
Roach, Ayo Roach and Dara Roach – will be buried in a private ceremony at
Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

*WHO:* Paying tribute will be: artists *Bill Cosby, Ruby Dee, Maya
Angelou, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Cassandra Wilson, Billy Taylor, Cecil
Bridgewater, Randy Weston, Jimmy Heath, Gary Bartz, Abbey Lincoln, Odean
Pope, Reggie Workman, Billy Harper, Elvira Green; Lt. Governor David A.
Paterson; Jazz at Lincoln Center curator Phil Schaap; and Roach**'s children
Daryl Keith, Maxine, Raoul, Ayo and Dara
The Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes, Jr.*, the senior minister emeritus of
The Riverside Church, presiding; and *the Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III*, the
pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, eulogist
*WHAT:* Public viewing and public funeral service for the late Max Roach
*WHEN:* *Friday, August 24, 2007
9:00 a.m. **– 10:30 a.m.* Public viewing (Press invited, but no
photographers, videographers or interviews)
* *VIP arrivals at 91 Claremont Avenue
(primarily) and 490 Riverside Drive
* 11:00 a.m. **– 1:00 p.m.* Public funeral

*WHERE:* *The Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive/91 Claremont
Avenue, Manhattan

INSTRUCTIONS:
*Press pens will be at both 490 Riverside Drive and 91Claremont Avenue. To
enter and cover funeral, media must check in at 91 Claremont Avenue between
9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. *NO PRESS WILL BE ADMITTED AFTER 10:45 A.M.* Media
should RSVP to cheryl_dun✧✧✧@spr✧✧✧.blackbe✧✧✧.n✧✧ and receive confirmation.
A mult-box will be available; it is suggested that TV/radio bring an extra
long XLR cable.

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
*Contacts:
*For Comment
*
*For Other Matters
*
*
*
Terrie M. Williams

Cheryl Duncan

Madeline McCray

Family Spokesperson

The Terrie Williams Agency

The Terrie Williams Agency

The Terrie Williams Agency

*cheryl_dun✧✧✧@earthl✧✧✧.n✧✧
*
*theterriewilliamsagymcc✧✧✧@ya✧✧✧.c✧✧
*
*tm✧✧✧@terriewilli✧✧✧.c✧✧*

201-332-8338 (O)

917-557-2388 (c)

917-837-0790 (C)

917-981-1842 (C)

So upset I can't go. This is about the only thing in the world that could tinge picking up my wife at the airport with disappointment.

Went back to this today after overhearing Chad Taylor say it was in his top 10:

http://images.emusic.com/music/images/album/291/117/492/11749270/300x300.jpg

so good

okay listening to M'Boom for the first time.

fucking
wow

so good

it's a really odd, crazy album, i don't know much roach i guess i sort of thought he was a more trad bop dude like art blakey or something

i mean, he is, but he also did records like 'lift every voice & sing' and 'members don't git weary', which are basically gospel + free jazz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uC3_DAysO4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yLFzK4NHiQ

i feel like m'boom is out to prove something about drummers totally being "real" musicians.

the "live at s.o.b.'s" m'boom record is great too.

Hot damn:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/arts/music/library-of-congress-acquires-max-roachs-papers.html

Roach was archivally minded, and, when he died, he left 400 linear feet of his life and actions to be read: scores and lead sheets, photographs, contracts, itineraries, correspondence, reel tapes and cassettes and drafts of an unfinished autobiography, written with the help of Amiri Baraka. On Monday, the Library of Congress will announce that it has acquired the archive from Mr. Roach’s family and that it will be made available to researchers.

whoa, excellent news. always wondered why he hadn't written an autobio, seems like he would have plenty of material.

Hopefully there's enough for some kind of bio to be cobbled together.

I'm on a big Max kick right now; his late 50s pianoless band with Ray Draper and Art Davis was really ahead of its time. Some of those arrangement ideas are completely bizarre, and have yet to really be followed up on.

i don't think i've heard those -- what are the albums?

Max Roach + 4 At Newport, Deeds, Not Words and Award Winning Drummer. There's a 3CD set called Complete 1958-59 that has all of those plus a couple of others.

cool, i think the only one I have from around then is the Jazz in 3/4 Time LP w/ Rollins (which is great).

i posted this elsewhere, but his 'Lift Every Voice & Sing' record is super underrated, it's an unstoppable force.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uC3_DAysO4

This is my favourite thing right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv2DHC8-bp0&list=PLCsvLEpxA-XlCJ2X7olzfRmyvDwS5cV-N&index=4

" Drummer Donald Bailey, in a 2008 interview with writer Don Alberts, said, "And who was [Thelonious] Monk's idol? Hasaan Ibn Ali. Nobody knows that!"

TIL that there are actually competing "schools of thought" on Max Roach's true bday, whether it's the 10th or the 8th. Mostly because of jazz weirdo Phil Schaap, it seems.

Saw this today on Fbook:

https://scontent.fman1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/26238762_1300323256740963_2693093301813870757_n.jpg?oh=5be22b8be18fc304ec3fce723c876a06&oe=5AFB3509

jazz in 3/4 time is such a good record, those drum solos are ripe for a 10 minute jam

his M'Boom album with 8 percussionists and lots of African influences is just one of the best things I've ever heard. I've had it on repeat all day.

Still a few more hours left of his birthday tribute on WKCR. M'Boom playing right now.

clutch heads up right there, about to get in the car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wnW2KLWE-g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gNnrMZL6Uw

Hopefully there's enough for some kind of bio to be cobbled together.

this is what i came here to check on. has there really never been a book-length study of MR, bio or otherwise?

from the nyt article linked above on the MR papers at the library of congress:

... the obscure Philadelphia pianist Hassan Ibn Ali, with whom he made a fascinating record for Atlantic in 1964. (There’s an hourlong tape in the collection of Ali playing solo piano in Roach’s apartment, some of which I heard, and several letters from him.)

does anybody know if this is related to (perhaps part of) the solo recordings released by omnivore this summer?

http://omnivorerecordings.com/shop/retrospect-in-retirement-of-delay/

has there really never been a book-length study of MR, bio or otherwise?

There's a handful of books of transcriptions of some of his solos, but that appears to be it. I assume there's a tiny bit of overlap in books on others; that is, some cursory background info on Max in books on Bird and on Clifford Brown, but nope, there's no Max bio nor any in-depth study of his approach (unless there are one or more graduate theses on his solos, which is to say, his compositions, which seems likely).

Been working on these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=berzU_UBbb4

Not to reduce any drummer down to licks, but whenever I dig into his playing I'm blown away by how systematic, organized, and clever it is.

^ thanks, i had fun with this last night

Making the rounds of PBS right now (do not miss):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_JRvFcrsvE

Also, can we get the full film of the Max Roach & Fab 5 Freddy show?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDwLmMkxqGk

Would love to see the doc, do they put the full version online at all?

Yeah, the documentary was streaming on the PBS website, might still be. It's very good — incomplete of course, but very interesting and told me a lot I didn't know. The impression I came away with most strongly is that Roach absolutely deserves a biography as exhaustive and in-depth as the recent Sonny Rollins book. But it would be really hard to get all his kids on the same page to support such a project.

I'm going to see it in the theater Sunday -- can't wait!! It will be fun to see it with other people.

I learned a lot from the doc!! I hadn't heard the M'Boom records before and seeing the documentary footage of them recording on all those cool instruments made it extra nice to hear for the first time (I listened via spotify) There was a pre-recorded q&a w the filmmakers after the screening and unfortunately it was not very interesting. I left to pee.

Ha, nice. I remember seeking a couple of those M'Boom records out on cd and listened to them a ton.

I listened to Rich vs Roach again the other day, it's fun. Imagine trying to keep your cool in the face of the Buddy Rich meat grinder.

He made some really fascinating records in the mid '80s that I wrote about a couple of years ago.

Wow, "Survivors" is crazy, I don't think I've ever heard it. It's like Bartok + drums.

born 100 years ago today

(or possibly 100 years and two days ago)