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The Life of Max Roach:
A Very Short Biography
Max Roach was a legendary jazz drummer, composer, bandleader, innovator, civil
rights activist and teacher who made Jazz his own. He had a very prolific life and one
could spend hours upon hours of research on every aspect of his life. His passing away
in August 2007, and being enrolled in a Jazz Styles and Techniques course, inspired me
to look a little deeper into his life. Hopefully by the end of this very short look into his
life we can both understand and appreciate what he accomplished musically and socially.
Max Roach was born in Newland, North Carolina on January 10, 1924 and at the
age of 4 his family moved to Brooklyn, New York. His mother was a gospel singer and
because of that, gospel was a big influence on him. By the age of ten he was playing for
church services and by the age of 16 he was sitting in for the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Through out the forties and fifties he started to advance the sound of bebop playing along
with some other players during that time. Some of the most respected recordings to date
are albums with his contemporaries like: Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus,
Thelonious Monk, Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Coleman Hawkins and the list keeps
on going.
His approach to the drum set is something we should talk about. He was one of
the first, if not the first, to approach his kit as a multiple percussion set. In short, he was
not satisfied with one sound from one drum. He knew he could get several sounds or
tones from any piece of his kit, if it were a drum or cymbal and sometimes that included
his hardware, the rims and cymbal stands. Speaking of cymbals if I had to pick one
aspect of his playing I would definitely say it was his use of the cymbals that separated
him from the rest. He could get as many sounds out of one cymbal as if he had five or six
different cymbals producing those sounds cymbals. I would say that the concept of “Less
is more” is very prominent in his approach and sound.
As far as his education he graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 1952
with a degree in composition. His schooling in this particular subject is very prominent
in regards to his approach to form. Max believed that without form the music would be
in chaos and there would not be any sense of moving forward musically. The use of form
and mixed meter was the reason, in my opinion, his original music stood out. In an
article written by Wei-hua Zhang titled “Some Characteristics of Max Roach’s Music”
she talks about various tunes of Roach’s in regards to his use of form and motive in his
drum set playing. One example that best suites his use of form, mixed meter and sound
production would be his solo on the album Drums Unlimited titled “The Drums Also
Waltzes”. In this solo he shows how the drum set can produce a melodic and cohesive
solo just like any other instrument in a combo or large ensemble. The solo is in ¾ and
the form is a rondo form.
In the 1960’s Jazz was starting to play a role in the civil rights movement. Max
Roach’s album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite was recorded in 1960 and to this day is
still considered his greatest work. Unlike some other albums that were released with the
same mood and feelings about equal rights, these albums were considered period pieces
because they reflect on certain events. One example would be the tune “Fables of
Faubus” on the album Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus. This tune was more or
less an attack on Arkansas governor Orval Faubus and the infamous Little Rock High
School situation. Freedom Now Suite was re-released this past August after Roach’s
passing and it is still being talked about today just as it was in the 60’s. Chris May from
All About Jazz.com wrote a review on the release and talked about Max Roach’s
collaboration with Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins and Nigerian conga player Michael
Olatiinji. When reading the review one quote in particular stuck out and that was in
regards actually to Coleman Hawkins solo in the opening of the first tune “Driva’ Man”.
That quote was, “He sounds like the civil rights marchers looked” in context to what I
was saying earlier I think that quote is why this album is considered one of the greatest
jazz albums and Max Roach’s greatest work as a composer.
In conclusion one could argue that Max Roach didn’t have a very prolific life but
I highly doubt that. In this very short and abridged paper I didn’t even get to talk about
some very important information in regards to Max Roach’s life. First, he had earned
eight honorary doctorates from universities like: Eastman, Manhattan School of Music,
and Julliard. Second, through out his life he was always integrating other art forms with
his music and was composing for movies and theatre. Third, he started teaching in the
early 1970’s at the University of Massachusetts and was very big in advancing jazz and
percussion education. Fourth and maybe the most prolific event in his life was when he
received a grant for $372,000 for the MacArthur Foundation.
Any four of those tidbits of information I just talked about would lead you
towards hours of research. I feel as a musician, student and percussionist that I have
become a better musician and teacher from reading about Max Roach. I encourage
everyone to go find at least one article on any aspect of his life and I promise you will
learn something.