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Max Roach died yesterday at age 83 after suffering from dementia for the past few years. It truly is an end of an era, and the obit in the NY Times captures that history:

Mr. Roach's death closes a chapter in American musical history. He was the last surviving member of a small circle of adventurous musicians - among them Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk and a handful of others - whose innovations brought about wholesale changes in jazz during World War II and immediately afterward.

Their music, which came to be known as bebop, had its roots in the jazz tradition, but it was different enough to scandalize many listeners and even many of their fellow musicians. Its rhythms were more jagged and unpredictable; its harmonies were more advanced, at times dissonant; its technical demands could be daunting. Despite the skepticism and hostility they initially inspired, the beboppers established the template for how jazz was played for decades to come.

Every jazz drummer comes out of Max whether he or she admits it. He was the first to really solo in a motivical, "musical," manner. And his sound (at least in the recordings up to the '70's) was distinctly his. Finally, his desire to grow and evolve as an artist set him head and shoulders above his contemporaries:

He led a "double quartet," consisting of his working group of trumpet, saxophone, bass and drums plus a string quartet. He led an ensemble consisting entirely of percussionists. He played duets with avant-gardists like the pianist Cecil Taylor and the saxophonist Anthony Braxton. He performed unaccompanied. He wrote music for plays by Sam Shepard and dance pieces by Alvin Ailey. He collaborated with video artists, gospel choirs and hip-hop performers.

He really was a special, unique musician, artist and humble human being:

"You can't write the same book twice. Though I've been in historic musical situations, I can't go back and do that again. And though I run into artistic crises, they keep my life interesting."

We will all miss Max Roach...

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