I was never fortunate enough to see Max Roach in the flesh. Yet, I feel his presence in the air constantly.
As a young teen, becoming aware of and falling in love with the Black American Music called jazz, Max Roach was one of the names that would always come up. When I heard Tony Williams on an album, I was floored. Then someone said, “Well do you know who Tony’s favorite drummer was? Max Roach!!” That statement led me to pull out the shovel and dig through Mr. Roach’s body of work and artistry. You always have to know your favorite artist’s favorite artist. And when I brought the packed soil to the surface, Max Roach was pure gold.
Throughout listening to Mr. Roach and his music for many years, I sought out past interviews and workshops so I could glean as much as I could from this master. In a workshop where he was teaching, he spoke about the origins of the drumset. To paraphrase, he said “The snare drum and the bass drum are of European descent, the tom-toms are of African descent and the cymbals are from Asia. So if you are in tune, you’ll realize that the drumset, born in the United States, is a beacon of democracy.”
I meditated on that heavily. Now, every time I sit down to play the drums, I think about that. The values in which the drumset was created, are the same ones that we should be living and projecting, on and off the bandstand. Max Roach has taught us this through his life and music.
A key player in the cutting-edge Bebop movement, along with Kenny Clarke and Roy Haynes, he filtered the influence of his heroes Sid Catlett and Papa Jo Jones through his magnificent imagination. He morphed the drums from just playing time to be a bigger part of the conversation. Playing from the ride cymbal and freeing up the snare and bass drum, Max used this newfound power musically. He accentuated these new types of musical conversations with his beautiful touch and thoughts also through his soloing.
For me, one of the most beautiful parts about his drumming is that just as Bebop ushered in more complexity in every aspect of the music, so did Max. He serves as the north star for drummers in how to be thoughtful and concise in storytelling. Max Roach dared to be patient, to be conversational instead of just filling space. Before him, drum soloing tended to be a wall of sound. He was a composer through and through, with the pen and with the sticks. His unique translations of delayed composition to improvisation make his drumming style like no other. Drummers to this day, still study and try to achieve this feat.
Of the many gifts that Max Roach possessed, the one that still strikes me most is his sense of melody. His kinship with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie shows up in the melodic tapestries he weaved in his solos. For me, Max is the most prominent catalyst for new thinking in how the drumset is viewed as a melodic instrument. 
The innovation that is still a test of the highest order for a drummer, is having the bass walking during the drum solo. This was a stroke of genius on so many levels. It leaves a primer on the canvas to provide interest while he paints at will. No longer did drummers just have to fill the space as they played alone. Now they could enhance space with only the most pertinent thoughts, the most curious, captivating and authentic ones.
The genius wasn’t only playing over the bass line, but playing the changes, just as anyone else in the band would play over the chord progressions. Max Roach gave us a vision of the drums as a melodic instrument outside the band setting in unaccompanied solos and INSIDE the band setting with a mirror of ‘Bird’ and ‘Diz.’ His ideas, approach and high tuning allowed the drum tones to be heard in a way that they hadn’t before him. Each phrase and cadence provides a mystery that unfolds into the next. When you listen to Max, you always want to stick around to hear the denouement.
Beyond drumming and writing, Max Roach was a man of character. His example of the company he kept was a constant reflection of him and his growth. From the musicians he came up with, to the young phenoms that were under his tutelage, he always collaborated with the vanguard. Of Max’s many recordings, my most influential artistically is his collaboration with Abbey Lincoln, “We Insist – Freedom Now Suite.”
Growing up in the church, I was always taught music is for a deeper cause. And through Max’s artistic vision, he reminds you of the power artists have to penetrate all the foolishness of the world and point toward enlightenment. And just as with the space he left in his solos, with each project he asks questions. One of the questions I constantly hear is “What are you willing to surrender?” Records like, “It’s Time” and “Deeds, Not Words” and so many other beautiful snapshots in Mr. Roach’s prolific body of work, showcase his awareness.
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Recently I wrote my first large multimedia work entitled “Unearthed.” The subject of that piece is the Sugarland 95. 95 African Americans who were convict leased in the early 1900s and buried in an unmarked grave in Houston, TX only 16 miles away from my childhood home. When I learned of this history, Max Roach was one of the first people I thought about. I contemplated, what would Max do? I knew it was possible to tell this story in art because Max Roach set the prototype for the type of African American artist who is thoughtful, and present and offers acerbic commentary on daily life. His impact as an activist and thought leader is as important as his music. Just as I asked the question what would Max do, so many artists, not just drummers, ask the same question.
For generations to come, people will try to put into words what Max Roach means to the world. His drums, cymbals and compositions will forever resonate into every human that has had the pleasure of experiencing his artistry in person or through recordings. When anyone sits down at the drumset, they are standing on Max Roach’s shoulders, whether they know it or not. That’s the beauty of his impact.
In Max Roach, I found an artist who composed his own life, full of forward motion, intellect, soulfulness, and brilliance. Through that life he has left so many gems in his body of work as a man and artist, to examine for many lifetimes. Unlimited by the vehicles he chose, in the drums, composition, activism, etc he exuded unlimited class, unlimited beauty and unlimited impact. Max Roach is Pure Gold.
With love and respect,
-Kendrick A. D. Scott
Drummer/ Composer / Max Roach Disciple
