Max Roach
Biography:
Max Roach was born in New Land, North Carolina, January 10th, 1924. He was a drummer and percussionist that was proficient in several different styles of music especially jazz. Max Roach looks at as a legendary jazz giant who set the foundation to jazz on the drum set.
Early Life
Max Roach began studying music early on at the age of eight. At this time he began piano lessons, later taking drums lessons at the age of 10. He was known to be extremely hard working and excelled musically at a very fast rate. Growing up he played with gospel groups on a regular basis. With very quick progression, his skills led him to play with Duke Ellington when he was only 17 years old in the early 1940s.
Early Career
Roach began playing with jazz greats like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie early on in New York City. He played at Minton's Playhouse and Monroe's Uptown House gaining a reputation for himself for jazz bebop. With Jazz being a growing and popular genre of this time, Roach started mastering the swing feel in different time signatures like 3/4 5/4 and 7/4. With this growing talent, he played with many jazz giants throughout the 1940s. This included playing with Benny Carter's big band and also playing in the art of cool jazz with Miles Davis in the late 1940s.
Leadership
After Roach played with many Jazz giants he took initiative by co-leading and starting groups of his own. He and Clifford Brown started a group specializing in hard bop in 1954 where Max Roach seemed to be most at home musically. However, he never remained complacent with who he worked with eventually forming his own group which including musicians such as Booker Little, Sonny Rollins, and Clifford Jordan.
Later Career
Max Roach became an activist for racial equality during the time of the civil rights movement. He titled his 1960 album We Insist! with songs like Freedom Day expressing his passion for racial equality through his music. He collaborated with vocalists and ensembles to represent his work. Abbey Lincoln is a notable vocalist that Roach worked with. He also began writing music for Broadway, films, and T.V. He led the Max Roach double quartet featuring a string quartet including his daughter Maxine who played viola.
M'boom
M'boom was a septet percussion group specializing in Latin, African and orchestral music formed by Max Roach in 1970 that lasted up until the 1990's. The original members of the groups were Roy Brooks, Joe Chambers, Omar Clay, Fred King, Ray Mantilla, and Warren Smith. Within 2 years the group had grown to 10 members including Freddie Waits becoming a prominent member of the group. Within a decade the group had recorded 3 albums and toured the Netherlands as well as other parts of Europe.
Stylistic Impact
Max Roach lived a life of contribution and success. He died on August 16, 2007, in Manhattan, New York. He made a huge impact on the jazz style going down in history as one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time. He masters difficult time signature with a swing feel, played several percussive instruments, worked with many of jazz's greatest authentic musicians, and was a relentlessly hard-working musician. He was one of the first, if not the first to be recorded trading fours on the bandstand. He figured out how to used Afro-Cuban rhythms in the jazz style without sounding pretentious or forced. He will be remembered for his courageous efforts, musical skills, and legendary
