• Skip to main content

New England Public Radio

  • Donate
  • National Public Radio
  • Public Radio International
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Max Roach at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, NJ, 1956; photo by Francis Wolff

Max Roach in Words and Music

by: Tom Reney November 25, 2016

Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email

What a find! Here’s the Max Roach Quintet, complete with an interview, at the Alhambra in Paris in 1960. Note the emphasis Max places on “exclusive” as a way of defining his group’s originality and uniqueness, maybe a subtle way of saying, much as Ornette Coleman had with a contemporaneous album title, “This is our music.” It reminded me of the controversy that had flared the previous year when “Take Five” got so much attention as a groundbreaking work in 5/4 and overshadowed the innovative 5/4 work that Julian Priester and Tommy Turrentine had created with “As Long As You’re Living.” The song was premiered by Max in 1959 and recorded shortly thereafter by Abbey Lincoln with a powerful lyric written by Oscar Brown, Jr. So what a joy it is to discover (at 18:35) that it’s the second of the two group pieces heard here. The quintet features Tommy Turrentine on trumpet, Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Julian Priester on trombone, and Bobby Boswell on bass. I think this is the first time I’ve seen Boswell, who came of out Pittsburgh with the Turrentine’s. And while Max’s opening solo is truncated for an interview, it’s an excellent example of the compositional concept he brought to solo drum pieces. Thanks always, Max.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0KKNi_yfl0

Print this Article
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Email this to someone
email
Previous

‹Ilan Stavans on “Word in Transit”

Next

Wynton Kelly›

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Listen Online
  • HD Radio
  • Mobile, iPhone & Android
  • Reception FAQs
  • Five College Consortium
  • Springfield Central Cultural District
  • National Public Radio
  • Public Radio International
  • University of Massachusetts
  • Amherst College
  • Mount Holyoke College
  • Smith College
  • Hampshire College
  • Five Colleges Incorporated
  • Springfield Central Cultural District

© 2022 New England Public Radio