People who trade underground recordings as a hobby are people who tend to think outside the box a bit. Of course, some will build their OWN boxes, by being very specific about what music they will collect. I'm not one of those.
I am always looking for something different, if not necessarily new. After all, if I've never heard it before, it's new to me, even if it was recorded decades ago. This hobby is, if nothing else, an invitation to experiment with different sounds. When you're in a store BUYING a disc, you may want to stick more to the tried and true, so your money isn't wasted. When you can legally download something for free, however, you can take a few chances. After all, if you don't like it, you can always just delete it. It's even better when you are familiar with one of the artists, though. Then you know from the onset that you might be on to something exciting. That's how it was when I stumbled upon this recording.
I discovered Max Roach when I first decided to educate myself on the mysteries of jazz. Naturally, Miles Davis was one of the first artists I listened to, notably one disc called Birth of the Cool. Max played on that. I noticed his name more and more as I bought more discs by Miles, as well as Charlie Parker. Then I saw him perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Taking that short walk to that tent was a fantastic decision.
I really wasn't sure what to expect. I mean, I knew that I was about to see a jazz legend, but in what condition? After all, it was 2001, and the guy had been recording since the 30's! I was elated to find that his hands were as nimble as I knew from the records, and it was a fantastic show- definately one of the high points of my experience at the Fest. After that, I made a point of exploring the different aspects of his career.
Thus, when I saw a recording of the as-yet-unknown-in-my-experience Max Roach Double Quartet on my favorite download site, I had to check it out. The description of the music fascinated me. Max had combined a jazz quartet with a string quartet, fusing jazz with classical in a way that serves both the heart and the head. That is what I am sharing with you this week.
The band consists of The Max Roach Quartet:
- Cecil Bridgewater, trumpet
- Dwayne Armstrong, sax
- Phil Bower, bass
- Max Roach, drums
along with The Swedenburg String Quartet:
- Lars Holm, violin
- Ulrica Jannson, violin
- Anders Lindgren, viola
- Kerstin Elmquist, Cello
at the Jazzfest Berlin on October 25, 1983. The song is called "Bird Says", an obvious reference to his former bandleader, the legendary Charlie Parker. Give it a listen, and let us know what you think. You're not likely to hear anything else quite like this again anytime soon.
It's right here.
I've been told that age has caught up with Max's hands in the last five years. I guess that was inevitable. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to see the magic happen while it was still there, and that there is still enough recorded magic for me to discover over the rest of my life. Thanks, Max.
Next Week: This band's name was coined as a synonym for Beelzebub, and the band has been described as "a way of doing things".
