On January 10, jazz enthusiasts around the world celebrated the centennial of drummer, composer and social activist Max Roach (1924-2007). He was not only a jazz musician, but was also a purveyor of great music, an innovator, teacher, and mentor. He embodied the source of the music from the ancestors and played the instrument of Mother Africa. Roach captured the moans and groans of an enslaved people, the blues of an indigenous society whose government wrapped them in lies and promises, played the gospel of hope, and the fiery percussive riffing of the Black struggle for equality.
Martin Luther King, Jr. would have called him a “Drum Major for Justice.” He used his music to portray his feelings about injustice. Listen to his international anthem “We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite” (Candid 1960), “Speak, Brother, Speak!” (Fantasy 1963), “Members Don’t Get Weary” (Atlantic 1968) and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” with the J.C. White Singers (Atlantic 1971), among others. Prior to these recordings, Roach, disenchanted with major record labels, co-founded Debut Records with bassist Charles Mingus, in 1952. In 1960, Roach and Mingus protested the practices of the Newport Jazz Festival.
In 1962, the two musicians collaborated with Duke Ellington for the album “Money Jungle” (United Artists 1962) which is regarded as one of the best trio albums in jazz history. Earlier he, along with drummer Kenny Clarke were pioneers in the bebop style. He played on many of Charlie Parker’s albums including the Savoy Records sessions in 1945. Years later during the 1970s he founded M’Boom, a collaborative multi-percussion ensemble that featured Fred King, Joe Chambers, Warren Smith, Freddie Waits, Roy Brooks, Omar Clay, Ray Mantilla, Francisco Mora, and Eli Fountain.
With an eagerness to expand his musical universe, Roach embarked on a duet series of avant garde recordings with Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, and Cecil Taylor. He also recorded a duet with an oration of the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.
His duet recordings were galaxy journeys but his solo concerts in the early 1980s were enthralling movements in time. It’s difficult for me to recall any other drummer who has since attempted the solo platform. Moving forward, Roach expressed his music in performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Disregarding the limitations of musical genres, Roach wrote and performed with the Walter White gospel choir and moved on to work with such dance companies as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Dianne McIntyre Dance Company, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.
He also played with his daughter, Maxine Roach, a Grammy nominated Violist. He later shocked the jazz police by performing in a hip hop concert featuring Fab Five Freddy and the New York Break Dancers. “There is a strong kinship between the work of these young black artists and the art I have pursued all my life,” Roach said at the time.
Roach leaves behind such a legacy of prolific work it will be interesting to see how his style and compositions will be reimagined by musicians celebrating his centennial.
The one centennial tribute I have seen to date was by the young drummer Kojo Melche Roney at the Blue Note, leading an impressive quartet with the iconic bassist Buster Williams, saxophonist Antoine Roney, and DJ Logic. The drummer offered original material and tunes by Roach with Logic inserting conversations and thoughtful words from Roach recordings/interviews. Dancer/choreographer Nia Love’s modern dance movements articulated another realm of music just as Roach’s interpretations in the past with a legacy in the now.
On January 18, The Max Roach Centennial: The Drum Also Waltzes documentary film free screening and panel discussion will take place at Newark Museum of Art in New Jersey at 7pm. The panel discussion will include Raoul Roach, Max’s son and the film’s director/producers Sam Pollard and Ben Sharpio.
The documentary explores the life and music of Roach through a series of creative peaks, struggles and personal reinventions from Jim Crow to the tumultuous civil rights era, surveying post-war modern jazz to hip hop and beyond.
Visit the website for reservations newarkmuseumart.org.
On January 26, the Centennial continues with the Freedom Now Suite concert at NJPAC/Prudential Hall in Newark at 8pm.
The revolutionary 1960s album “We Insist! Freedom Now Suite” was the musical soundtrack of those revolutionary times. The album will be reimagined and explore those same issues of social injustice and racial inequality that are still pertinent in 2024. The concert will be led by musical director and drummer Nasheet Waits, featuring vocalist Cassandra Wilson, thought-provoking poets Sonia Sanchez and Saul Williams, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, bassist Eric Revis, and Waits on drums.
“I am honored to be music director for Max’s centennial,” said Waits. “The Freedom Now Suite was a battle cry to free South Africa from apartheid and a definitive protest song during the Civil Rights Movement in America. It was one of the first jazz protest albums.”
Waits has a direct link to Roach, as a former member of his ensemble M’Boom. He is a second-generation band member—his father Freddie Waits co-founded the band with Roach. “What Max offered to the music was a contribution to the world,” said Waits. “He affected the sound and spoke out for justice and equality for all humans on the planet.”
During an interview with Downbeat magazine Roach said, “We American jazz musicians of African descent have proved beyond all doubt that we’re master musicians of our instruments. Now what we have to do is employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people and what we’ve been through.”
For tickets visit the website njpac.org.