Results for "Max Roach"

Max Roach

Born: January 10, 1925

Maxwell Lemuel Roach is a percussionist, drummer, andjazz composer. He has worked with many of the greatestjazz musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker,Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Sonny Rollins. He iswidely considered to be one of the most importantdrummers in the history of jazz.

Roach was born in Newland, North Carolina, to Alphonseand Cressie Roach; his family moved to Brooklyn, NewYork when he was 4 years old. He grew up in a musicalcontext, his mother being a gospel singer, and he started toplay bugle in parade orchestras at a young age. At the ageof 10, he was already playing drums in some gospel bands.He performed his first big-time gig in New York City at theage of sixteen, substituting for Sonny Greer in aperformance with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

That's Him

By Abbey Lincoln

Label: Craft Recordings
Released: 2026
Track listing: Strong Man; Happiness is Just a Thing Called Joe; My Man; Tender as a Rose; That's Him; I Must Have That Man; Porgy; When a Woman Loves a Man; Don't Explain.

I Love New York

by Marshall Bowden
October 1, 2002

This article first appeared on All About Jazz in October 2001. There's another reason as well. New York City is a financial and business center, certainly, and this is one reason it was marked for attack. But it is also very much our nation's cultural and arts center, the showpiece of the country that ...

Percy France: Live from the West End

by Daniel Gould
August 27, 2026

 If you know Percy France, most likely you are a fan of “greasy" organ jazz, particularly on Blue Note Records during their classic era. He was an integral part of Jimmy Smith's Home Cookin' (1959) and Freddie Roach's Down to Earth (1962). Or perhaps you came to jazz through r&b acts like the Bill Doggett combo. The ...

Happy Birthday Marcus Roberts! Also Tony Bennett, Allan Holdsworth, and more

by David W. Daniels
August 11, 2026

In addition to the artists named in the title, this edition of Exploration recognizes the classic genius of The Quintet (Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charlie Mingus, and Max Roach), Horace Silver, and others. More new music from Joe Alterman, Doug Webb, and Terri Lyne Carrington. Birthdays recognized include Eddie Jefferson, Ravi Coltrane, and “Pops" ...

And His Name Was Max

by John Ephland
July 27, 2026

This interview was conducted during the Chicago Jazz Festival on August 31, 1990. A favorite topic: musicians who dedicate their artistic lives to the spirit of collaborations. When I was writing about Max Roach in the late 1980s, I was astounded by how many projects he seemed to be simultaneously engaged in. A giant ...

Sonny Rollins tribute, part 1: Sonny in the '50s

by Larry Slater
July 17, 2026

Sonny Rollins, the saxophone colossus, left us on May 25th 2026 at age 95. Rollins, one of the music's great improvisers, left a rich legacy of recordings. His early recordings date from 1949, when he was 19. Even at that age, he was recognized as a rare talent. In this hour, you'll ...

Ran Blake & Dominique Eade: Roots & Byways

by Troy Dostert
July 12, 2026

For a pianist whose prodigious recorded legacy goes back to the 1960s, Ran Blake has only rarely deviated from his preferred settings: solo albums and duos with vocalists. While his Short Life of Barbara Monk (Soul Note, 1987) is arguably one of the finest quartet records of the 1980s, and his Sonic Temples (GM Recordings, 2001) ...

Tyshawn Sorey: Members... Don't!

by Troy Dostert
June 24, 2026

One of the most welcome developments in twenty-first century jazz has been drummer Tyshawn Sorey's enthusiastic turn toward the jazz canon. While he had already established himself convincingly as one of the premier figures in creative music on immersive, challenging works such as The Inner Spectrum of Variables (Pi Recordings, 2016) and Verisimilitude (Pi Recordings, 2017), ...

Tyshawn Sorey, Benoit Delbecq, Enten Eller & James Wengrow

by Maurice Hogue
June 15, 2026

Drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey's new Members... Don't is a contender for recording of the year. He reimagines fellow drummer Max Roach's Members Don't Git Weary from 1968 and reminds us that the original's political and social exhortations remain as evident and concerning today. Sorey's music is extremely powerful. Guitarist James Wengrow is an Aussie with big notes ...