Max Roach is Dead
Right now I'm not particularly interested in how "great" Roach was, whether it was him or Kenny Clarke who invented bebop drumming, or when the overwhelming body count of jazz icons will be enough to bury the music for good . . .
Right now I want to watch Mr. Roach play with his brushes again.
Then maybe watch him again, with the hi-hat . . .
and once more with the whole kit.
"My technique really developed to its present level by watching old masters like Sidney Catlett, Jo Jones, Keg Johnson and O'Neal Spencer. I had a chance to check out O'Neal Spencer when he was with John Kirby's band. To me, he was a master. Today, brushes aren't used as much as they were once, but brush technique is beautiful, and some of the guys still remember these things. Lester Young's brother, Lee Young, was a fantastic brush man, too. It's almost as much of a lost technique as tap dancing now, where black people are concerned. The development of our music probably had a lot to do with it, and the attitude that musicians brought with it; sticks were more definitive, I guess. With a lot of people concentrating on volume, brushes are just out of it, unless you could wire the wire brushes in some kind of way so that they matched the sound of some of the electronics we have today."
-- Max Roach interview with Art Taylor, "Notes and Tones," 1970-71
Watch the old master, "Papa" Jo Jones, here.
Also worth seeing are two clips of Roach with Abbey Lincoln.
Finally, a few more words and some mp3s.
Max Roach, 1924-2007.
Right now I want to watch Mr. Roach play with his brushes again.
Then maybe watch him again, with the hi-hat . . .
and once more with the whole kit.
"My technique really developed to its present level by watching old masters like Sidney Catlett, Jo Jones, Keg Johnson and O'Neal Spencer. I had a chance to check out O'Neal Spencer when he was with John Kirby's band. To me, he was a master. Today, brushes aren't used as much as they were once, but brush technique is beautiful, and some of the guys still remember these things. Lester Young's brother, Lee Young, was a fantastic brush man, too. It's almost as much of a lost technique as tap dancing now, where black people are concerned. The development of our music probably had a lot to do with it, and the attitude that musicians brought with it; sticks were more definitive, I guess. With a lot of people concentrating on volume, brushes are just out of it, unless you could wire the wire brushes in some kind of way so that they matched the sound of some of the electronics we have today."
-- Max Roach interview with Art Taylor, "Notes and Tones," 1970-71
Watch the old master, "Papa" Jo Jones, here.
Also worth seeing are two clips of Roach with Abbey Lincoln.
Finally, a few more words and some mp3s.
Max Roach, 1924-2007.
Labels: funerals, jazz musicians on youtube
posted by John E. Uhl at 1:14 PM
4 Comments:
It's really great
Yes, well of course -- he's a fantastic drummer. But jazz has an awful lot of dead great men at this point. I wonder if it's time for a new approach -- something more dynamic than our present understanding, i.e. a succession of revolutionary advancements made by individual geniuses, like Roach. A much larger point that I don't intend to pursue here...
Yeah, jazz is well on its way to becoming America's classical music, ain't it?
You know I reserve a special breed of contempt for anyone who would seriously refer to jazz as America's classical music. If the intent is to celebrate jazz, why limit it with a junky moniker that has already stifled one otherwise vibrant musical form? Why not simply call jazz America's music? Of course, that's stupid too -- limiting jazz to an American, rather than universal, expression... (Besides, the tradition of mixing music and nationalism is not exactly grand.) Why must we impose so many boundaries to elevate jazz?
The classical music analogy is one of, I think, many destructive effects of the "great men" approach to jazz history. Incidentally, I was reading an old interview with Max Roach today, and one of the first things he says is "I don't believe in genius."
Expect more writing about jazz and the blues here. I'm sick of indie rock.
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