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Remembering Roy Haynes: Modern Jazz Giant

By Ian Patterson
November 19, 2024
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When Roy Haynes sat down at the tiny kit on the stage of the Everyman Theatre, during the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival in 2005, he shook his head ruefully and said, "Man, I feel like a midget!" Rising above the audience laughter, somewhere in the depths of the theatre, a voice replied, "Roy, you're a giant!" And so he was.

Roy Haynes might not have had such a big, powerful sound as Art Blakey or Elvin Jones but he was an inventive, intuitive drummer, understated in some ways, yet passionate and rhythmically provocative. In the 1940s he drummed for Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Bud Powell. In the 1950s he lit a fire for Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk and, most frequently, for Sarah Vaughan. In the 1960s he recorded with John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ray Charles... and so it went in subsequent decades... Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Michel Petrucciani, Pat Metheny—all the greats turned to Haynes for his mastery of rhythms.

Haynes embarked upon the road as a leader in the mid-'50s and would record over 30 albums over the next half a century. But whether as a leader or as a sideman his intention was always the same, telling All About Jazz in a 1999 interview, "every time I get behind the drums, it is my most serious time of the day for me. It's a serious thing in life, to play music and to be as sincere and real as possible."

This clip from a 1966 Stan Getz gig finds Haynes stretching out in his inimitable style. On bass is Steve Swallow, on vibraphones Gary Burton. Roy Haynes, March 13, 1925—November 12, 2024. Goodbye, giant!

Contact Ian Patterson on All About Jazz.
Ian is dedicated to the promotion of jazz and all creative music all over the world, and to catching just a little piece of it for himself.

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