Max Roach : NPR

We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence

Lil Baby performs during a Juneteenth voter registration rally on June 19, 2020 at Murphy Park Fairgrounds in Atlanta, Ga. One week earlier, he released "The Bigger Picture," a song protesting police brutality. Paras Griffin/Getty Images hide caption

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Paras Griffin/Getty Images

America Reckons With Racial Injustice

We Insist: A Century Of Black Music Against State Violence

June 26, 2020 • These songs take on some of the ugliest stories in our history and reflect the commitment of Black musicians to telling the truth of how Black people have been wronged, and survived, and fought back.

Max Roach performs in Havana, Cuba in 1989. Rafael Perez/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Rafael Perez/AFP/Getty Images

Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz

Max Roach On Piano Jazz

February 22, 2008 • Roach was one of jazz's legendary drummers — an innovator and co-creator of what became known as bebop. In this program from 1998, Roach relates a few memories of performing with Bird, Monk and Diz.

Max Roach In The Studio

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Concerts

Max Roach Memorial Show

WBGO

November 15, 2007 • On May 24, 1987, Max Roach performed solo and with two groups in the performance studio of WBGO. Wearing a silk suit with rolled-up sleeves, he wowed the listening audience with his precise and melodic drumming. Hear the late, great drummer perform on JazzSet.

Max Roach in Concert on JazzSet 5/24/87

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Music Interviews

Jazz World Mourns Loss of Max Roach

August 17, 2007 • Legendary jazz percussionist Max Roach is dead at 83. Having been associated with greats such as Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, the self-taught musician wowed audiences throughout the world.

Jazz World Mourns Loss of Max Roach

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Hazel Scott: 'Relaxed Piano Moods'

August 1, 2001 • Pianist Hazel Scott was one of the few artists who successfully integrated jazz and classical music. For 1955's Relaxed Piano Sounds, Scott teamed with the two men who owned Debut Records — drummer Max Roach and bassist Charles Mingus — for one of the best piano trios ever recorded.

Hazel Scott: 'Relaxed Piano Moods'

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Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Max Roach: 'Clifford Brown and Max Roach'

August 1, 2001 • Max Roach was one of the founders of the jazz "be-bop" style. He also revolutionized jazz drumming by shifting the focus of the beat from the bass drum to the ride cymbal. In 1954, he formed a quintet in Los Angeles with trumpeter Clifford Brown, resulting in several classic recordings.

Max Roach: 'Clifford Brown and Max Roach'

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Swing into Spring with Blossom Dearie and More

iStockphoto.com

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

Swing into Spring with Blossom Dearie and More

90.5 WESA

March 25, 2008 • Springtime brings warming temperatures, a spirit of renewal, and a bunch of jazz tunes with the season in mind. Listen to these songs as you gaze out your window at the last bit of snow, walk around a park, or leaf through a gardening catalog.

September Songs: Classic Jazz, Born In The Fall

Duke Ellington, Max Roach and Charles Mingus on the cover of Money Jungle. Courtesy of Blue Note hide caption

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Courtesy of Blue Note

Take Five: A Jazz Sampler

September Songs: Classic Jazz, Born In The Fall

WBGO

September 2, 2008 • The change of season offers a chance to look ahead to fall and look back at summer simultaneously. For many, it's an especially productive month: In the world of jazz, September sessions have produced some special recordings.

Remembering Max Roach, Rhythmic Innovator

Max Roach, ca. Oct. 1947. William P. Gottlieb/Library of Congress via flickr.com hide caption

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William P. Gottlieb/Library of Congress via flickr.com

NPR's 'Jazz Profiles'

Remembering Max Roach, Rhythmic Innovator

August 16, 2007 • Drummer Max Roach died August 16th, 2007 at the age of 83. A primary architect of the bebop revolution, Roach was one of the most innovative and influential musicians in jazz. This 75th birthday tribute originally aired in 2001.

Max Roach: 75th Birthday Tribute

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Max Roach in 1947. William Gottlieb/Library of Congress via Flickr hide caption

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William Gottlieb/Library of Congress via Flickr

A Blog Supreme

Max Roach: Drums, Front And Center

Jazz24

January 10, 2012 • The late jazz pioneer's mission was to make drumming a more musical, lyrical experience.

Review

Basic Jazz Record Library

Charlie Parker: 'Jazz at Massey Hall'

August 1, 2001 • The 1953 album Jazz at Massey Hall contains the only jazz composition sung by a United States president while in office. The song is "Salt Peanuts," performed by Jimmy Carter at the White House Jazz Festival. Jazz at Massey Hall also documents one of the rare moments when Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Max Roach, and The Quintet recorded together.

Charlie Parker: 'Jazz at Massey Hall'

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Instruments Of Change: Music Of The Freedom Riders, 50 Years Later

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sees off a group of Freedom Riders as they board a bus for Jackson, Miss., on May 24, 1961. Paul Schutzer/Life hide caption

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Paul Schutzer/Life

A Blog Supreme

Instruments Of Change: Music Of The Freedom Riders, 50 Years Later

WBGO

May 4, 2011 • The dream of social justice resulted in one of the most creative periods in jazz history. Hear some of the musicians who wielded their instruments in the pursuit of social harmony and change.

Review

Music Reviews

'Money Jungle'

November 27, 2002 • Music Critic Michelle Mercer reviews the re-issue of Money Jungle, the 1962 recording featuring Duke Ellington, bass player Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach.

'Money Jungle'

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