Jazz Bebop Drummer Max Roach

Max Roach was one of the pioneers of jazz bebop drumming. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.org

Max Roach was one of the featured stars in the jazz drumming community. He was considered by many to be one of the pioneers of bebop, a style of jazz music consisting of blistering fast jazz music, where many jazz players could really define their chops on an international scale. Max had his own group for quite a few years, in addition to collaborating with much of the other jazz royalty from the 1940s through the late 90s. Max always seemed to be ahead of the curve as a drummer, discovering new ways to treat percussion on the bandstand. He also seemed to be a bit of a musicologist, noticing the changes in music from jazz all the way through to rap music. I watched an interview where Max compared rap music to some of the jazz bebop players. Musicians are creative with the skills they have available to them, referring to the fact that many of the great jazz artists did not pursue formal music education, instead focusing on the natural talent available to them. Some pretty inspiring words from one of the greatest drummers in jazz music. I collected a few videos from Max Roach from his time spent with his own group, to some up close snare and brushes techniques, and finally a classic drum solo. I hope you enjoy it all as much as I did!

The Max Roach 5 tet was one of the great jazz bebop groups. Check out this live show at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvdU5R7ywQ4.

Max Roach definitely had some skills behind the kit. He could even play some hip stuff with just a pair of brushes and a snare drum. Check him out now at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS-xiX64HGQ.

Lastly, here’s a clip from a live drum solo from Max Roach later on in his career. Enjoy the show at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns6i4YAe11Y.

I hope you dug seeing Max Roach in action. He was definitely one of the greats behind the kit. There’s more coming your way at Play Drums By Ear, so stay tuned.

Thanks,

Chris