Max Roach

Short Bio

This man was a revolutionary by nature. When you look back in time, you understand that Max Roach was much more than a drummer. He was a rebel, and an explorer. A man that was always looking forward, that wanted change. But most importantly a man that had a natural desire to innovate. 

​

Roach was born in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, U.S., on January 10, 1924. Some years after his birth, his family moved to Brooklyn, New York. Because of this, he was exposed to Jazz greatest artists and movements. He started playing the drums at a young age. By 1942 he already played with Duke Ellington's Orchestra, and a year later he made his first professional recording. However, in the 1950s, Max became part of the New Generation of Jazz musicians, that were forging a new jazz style with faster and more complex rhythms and chord progressions. Roach soon became a drumming pioneer in Bebop. Since then, he played with various Jazz legends as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis.

​

Max Roach was a revolutionary both musically and socially. He pioneered the radical change between Swing and Bebop. His most notable innovation was the movement of the drum's pulse from the bass drum, as it was traditionally used in swing, to the Ride cymbal, and the Hi-Hat, giving the drummers a kind of freedom never experienced before. Although nowadays it is a very common approach, back in the 40s and 50s it was a radical step.

​

But besides all that, he also used his music and his voice to denounce the social injustice against African Americans. In many of his recordings, he used lyrics with African Independence Movements and Civil Rights themes. A well-known example is the jazz album "We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite" featuring Abbey Lincoln.