Biographical Overview & Key Facts

Subject:

Max Roach

Role / Field:

Jazz drummer, composer, and pioneer of bebop, highly influential in modern music.

Born:

1924-01-10

Died:

2007-08-16

Century / Era:

1924s Historical Era

Database Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Origins & Early Life

Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Clifford Brown, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, Benny Carter, and Booker Little. He also played with his daughter Maxine Roach, a Grammy-nominated violist.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1992. In the mid-1950s, Roach co-led a pioneering quintet along with trumpeter Clifford Brown. In 1970, Roach founded the percussion ensemble M'Boom. Max Roach was born to Alphonse and Cressie Roach in the Township of Newland, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, which borders the southern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp. The Township of Newland is sometimes mistaken for Newland Town in Avery County, North Carolina.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Roach's family moved to the Bedford...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alexandre Lacassagne — Contemporary (Died in 1924) (1924): Pioneering French criminologist and founder of the Lacassagne school of criminology.
• Alfred Marshall — Contemporary (Died in 1924) (1924): Father of scientific economics; popularized supply and demand theory.
• Amílcar Cabral — Contemporary (Born in 1924) (1924): Bissau-Guinean anti-colonial leader, intellectual, and revolutionary poet.
• Al Oerter — Contemporary (Died in 2007) (2007): Four-time Olympic champion in the discus throw, pioneering athletic consistency.
• Albert Ellis — Contemporary (Died in 2007) (2007): Pioneering figure in psychotherapy, founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
• Alfred Peet — Contemporary (Died in 2007) (2007): Dutch-American founder credited with starting the US specialty coffee revolution.
• Al-Mustansir Billah — Shared historical date (01-10 · Died) (1094): Eighth Fatimid Caliph, whose long reign marked the twilight of the dynasty.
• Barbara Hepworth — Shared historical date (01-10 · Born) (1903): Pioneering English Modernist sculptor, celebrated for her abstract forms and connection to St Ives.
• Albert Cohen (novelist) — Shared historical date (08-16 · Born) (1895): Greek-born Swiss novelist who wrote in French, known for his memoirs and international work.
• Alexander Gomelsky — Shared historical date (08-16 · Died) (2005): Pioneering Russian basketball player and coach, revered as the Father of Soviet and Russian basketball.
• 1924 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1924
• January 10 (01-10) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on January 10
• 2007 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 2007
• August 16 (08-16) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on August 16

Frequently Asked Questions about Max Roach