Roach, Max

Roach, Max

(Maxwell Lemuel Roach), 1924–2007, African-American jazz drummer, b. Newland, N.C. Raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., he was playing jazz in Harlem clubs by 1943. Roach had an important role in the genesis of bop (see jazzjazz,
the most significant form of musical expression of African-American culture and arguably the most outstanding contribution the United States has made to the art of music. Origins of Jazz

Jazz developed in the latter part of the 19th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. ), providing jagged, layered rhythms to groups led by Dizzy GillespieGillespie, Dizzy
(John Birks Gillespie) , 1917–93, American jazz musician and composer, b. Cheraw, S.C. He began to play the trumpet at 15 and later studied harmony and theory at Laurinburg Institute, N.C. He played with the bands of Cab Calloway and Billy Eckstine.
..... Click the link for more information.  (1944) and Charlie ParkerParker, Charlie "Bird"
(Charles Christopher Parker, Jr.), 1920–55, American musician and composer, b. Kansas City, Kans. He began playing alto saxophone in 1933 and, shifting from one band to another, eventually met Dizzy Gillespie in New York City.
..... Click the link for more information.  (1945–53), and elevating drums to the status of solo instruments. An innovative virtuoso who mingled power with subtlety, Roach became (1954) co-leader with trumpeter Clifford Brown of a hard-bop jazz quintet that also included Sonny RollinsRollins, Sonny
(Theodore Walter Rollins), 1930–, African-American tenor saxophonist and composer, b. New York City. A master of jazz improvisation, Rollins is known for his rich tone, emotional depth, and inventive use of melody, harmony, and rhythm.
..... Click the link for more information. . After Brown's death (1956), Roach led a variety of jazz small groups, and in the early 1960s he was an early public jazz champion of racial equality, particularly in his We Insist! Freedom Now Suite (1960). He founded M'Boom, an all-percussion group, in the 1970s and the Max Roach Double Quartet, in which strings played an important part, in the 80s, and later led the So What Brass Quintet. Roach also composed music for the theater and for dances by Alvin AileyAiley, Alvin, Jr.
, 1931–89, American modern dancer and choreographer, b. Rogers, Tex. Ailey studied in Los Angeles with Lester Horton, whose strong, dramatic style and views about multiracial casting influenced his choreography and artistic direction.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Roach, (Maxwell) Max

(1924– ) jazz musician; born in New Land, N.C. The premier modern jazz drummer, he was raised in Brooklyn, attended the Manhattan School of Music, and recorded with Coleman Hawkins in 1943. Over the next four years, he was a sideman with Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, and Hawkins. He joined Charlie Parker's trailblazing quintet from 1947–49, then free-lanced as a session player and with Jazz at the Philharmonic and the Lighthouse All-Stars until 1954. Between 1954–56, he and Clifford Brown coled one of the most highly regarded groups in modern jazz. After Brown's death, Roach maintained a succession of groups while pursuing a wide range of activities as a composer and educator, particularly as a professor of music at the University of Massachusetts (1972).