Max Roach, the drummer who helped create bebop and backed the likes of Gillespie, Mingus and Miles, died "peacefully in his sleep this morning," according to a statement from his publicist. No further details were available, though it has been reported that Roach had been ill for a number of years. He was 83 years old.
Roach grew up in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and was a self-taught visionary who put down beats to match the likes of Archie Schepp and Cecil Taylor in their heyday. So it was not a coincidence that he was was an early adopter of hip hop, comparing Public Enemy and Rakim to the best of his own generation: to Roach, rappers were "the beboppers of their day." In the early '80s, he began collaborating with Fab 5 Freddy and the New York Break Dancers. In 1983, they performed at the legendary SoHo venue The Kitchen, with Fab rapping to Roach's beats.
Watch Roach with his wife, the singer and civil rights activist Abbey Lincoln:
The man was powerful. May he rest in peace.
August 16, 2007 @ 3:04 pm
Max Roach, 1924-2007
The man who kept time for bebop passed away early this morning.
Article tags: Bebop, Fab Five Freddy, Max Roach
del.icio.us
digg
Furl
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Page printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/news/news_headlines/2007/08/max_roach_obit/
Celeb of the Day
Will Smith
Government Name: Willard Christopher Smith Jr.
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
More Celebrities
|
|
|
|
Comments
1.
amure martins says:
you guys are too much.
August 20, 2007 at 9:45 am
2.
amure martins says:
you guys are too much.
August 20, 2007 at 9:45 am
3.
amure martins says:
you guys are too much.
August 20, 2007 at 9:45 am
4.
amure martins says:
you guys are too much.
August 20, 2007 at 9:45 am