The Genius of Max Roach Class 1 Instructors Seton Hawkins Jerome Jennings Class 1, January 18: The Drumming Style of Max Roach Tonight we explore the drumming innovations of Max Roach by diving into his groundbreaking efforts in establishing modern drum language, and shaping the sounds of BeBop, Cool Jazz, Hard Bop, Free Jazz, and more! Notes and Music We open by hearing and seeing the solo drum wizardry of Max Roach, as we then frame his life and career. ●
The Drum Also Waltzes ○ Max Roach (d) ○ Recorded October 14, 1965
●
Mr. Hi Hat ○ Max Roach (d) ○ 1994
Max Roach cited figures like Papa Jo Jones and Sid Catlett as some of his chief inspirations, and Roach’s early gigs include lengthy work in big bands of the day, playing in a drum style we associate with the Swing Era. In hearing Papa Jo Jones, we can understand what the 1930s and early 1940s style of drumming was considered to be, and we can then hear how Roach builds upon these ideas to establish a new approach. ●
The Jitters ○ Count Basie And His Orchestra ■ Buck Clayton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Al Killian, Ed Lewis (tp) Dan Minor, Dicky Wells, Ed Cuffee (tb) Tab Smith (as,sop,arr) Earl Warren (as) Don Byas, Buddy Tate (ts) Jack Washington (as,bar) Count Basie (p) Freddie Green (g) Walter Page (b) Jo Jones (d) ○ Recorded January 28, 1941
By the mid-1940s, Max Roach becomes one of, if not the, pioneering figures of BeBop drumming. Working alongside luminaries like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, Roach would shift how the drummer approached time keeping. What’s more, he went even further by reconsidering what the drummer’s role in the band should be. ●
Koko ○ Charlie Parker's Reboppers ■ Dizzy Gillespie (tp,p) Charlie Parker (as) Curly Russell (b) Max Roach (d) ○ Recorded November 26, 1945