Max Roach

Maxwell Lemuel Roach (born January 10, 1924-) is a jazz drummer and composer.

Born in New York, he grew up in a musical context with her mother being a gospel singer, and started to play bugle in parade orchestras very yo

Maxwell Lemuel Roach (born January 10, 1924-) is a jazz drummer and composer.

Born in New York, he grew up in a musical context with her mother being a gospel singer, and started to play bugle in parade orchestras very young. At the age of 10, he was already playing drums in some gospel bands. He left the Manhattan School of Music in 1942 with a diploma in percussion, and then started to go out in the jazz clubs of the 52th street. He was one of the first drummers (along with Kenny Clarke) to play in the bebop style, and performed in bands led by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, and Miles Davis. Roach played on many of Parker's most important records, including the Savoy 1945 sessions, one of the three or four turning points in recorded jazz.