Customer Reviews

Survivors

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The career of Max Roach has been one of change. In the 1940s he established the role of drums in the bebop era. In the 50s he established the role of the drums in hard bop or progressive jazz. In the 60s he did the same for free bop and also developed the drums in polyrhythmic contexts. He also demonstrated excellent skills as a composer.
In the 80s he experimented with free jazz and with extended compositional forms.
On this record the 20 minute long piece that was composed for him can be looked at as a Bartokian string quartet with drums as the solo instrument. This recording in no way should be confused with the kinds of things Charlie Parker and Clifford Brown did with strings--both of which have Max on drums.
This is Max in the 80s continuing to experiment.

The remaining part the record features some of Max's best drum compositions, showing that Max is not only a great composer but that his understanding of the drums in unparalleled. In his hands the drums are not only a rhythm instrument but a harmonic and melodic instrument as well.

For fun pick his daughter's string quartet record Max Roach Presents The Uptown String Quartet where he and daughter Maxine orchestrated one of those drum solos.

When I purchased this CD I was under the impression that the album was Max with a string section on each of the tracks. Looking back, each source I consulted (Penguin Jazz Guide, various internet sites) never really said this, but I wish I had known that the CD has only one track with Max and the strings. It is track #1, 'Survivors', and it runs over 20 minutes. It is awful. Expecting a song with Max swinging along with strings, I was annoyed to find that it is Max free-form soloing with the strings accenting at seemingly random points. Now I'm a fan of free jazz, but I still couldn't get into this (a caveat: I must admit I wasn't able to get past the first 10 minutes, but I've tried on several occasions).

So why 3 stars? Because the remaining tracks are examples one of Max's great contributions to jazz, the solo drum composition. Anyone familiar with Max's 'Conversation', 'The Drum Also Waltzes', or 'For Big Sid' will know that his drum compositions are distinct from drum solos, which are often a series of showy technical exercises. His compositions have a (basic) melody, sections, and include some tasty technical and polyrhythmic stuff. I like these immensely, and the ones included here make for some fascinating listening. Except for the last one, these solos are between 2 and 3 minutes, a display of rare taste. Drummers will dig them most of all.

So let's be clear, jazz fan: The first track (awful, 20 min.)is Max with strings, and all of the rest are Max on the drums only (not to all tastes). No other musicians. Do not expect a bebop album here.