The Fruits of Practice Sound Like This: Max Roach 5-Tet “Freedom Day”

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Wow. I’ve always been a fan of Max Roach as soon as I first heard him, but this is some of the best playing you’ll hear anywhere, not only from Mr. Roach, but from everybody in this quintet.

Eddie Kahn, after flying through some nimble-fingered walking bass delivers one of the most interesting upright bass solos I’ve heard in a while, and the way he locks in with Max Roach on drums is tighter than close friendship.

Abbey Lincoln recently passed away, but her gorgeous contra-alto voice lives on powerfully in this music. Chills.

Clifford Jordan’s fat tone on the tenor; Coleridge Perkins (I think) and his artful comping on piano, accentuating hits with Max Roach, who kills that drum set in the tastiest way: clean, and with total respect and communication with the other musicians, and even at these speeds is so relaxed and easy-sounding.

Wheeew! This is great stuff. This is what practice sounds like.

Another great version is here: Max Roach 5 Tet with Abbey Lincoln

Sample/buy Max Roach’s recordings (Freedom Day)

Sample/buy Abbey Lincoln’s recordings

Related articles

• Max Roach: Drums, Front And Center (npr.org)
• Ol’ Skool Sunday: The Power of the Drum (soularadiance.wordpress.com)
• Remembering Paul Motian: The Drummer Who Quietly Shook Things Up (Column) (popmatters.com)
• Jazz At The Philharmonic in Amsterdam 1958. (bobvaneekhout.wordpress.com)

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