It begins with an exquisitely haunting, faint but captivating ride cymbal pattern.
Next, a trio of horns enters, playing a declarative melody to the same rhythmic motif, supported by a single bowed note from the bass and drums which now sound like contained thunder. It’s almost apocalyptic, a heralding swell that, for the listener, foretells something monumental is about to happen. The horns complete their chorus, and suddenly, the drums turn effervescent. The bass rains notes down like an avalanche, as the drums begin to swing at breakneck speed. It’s time.
Whisper, listen, whisper, listen. Whispers say we're free.
Rumors flying, must be lying. Can it really be?
Can't conceive it, can't believe it. But that's what they say.
Slave no longer, slave no longer, this is Freedom Day.
Vocalist Abbey Lincoln sings this proclamation with an ancestral aura that can’t help but bring chills, as she rides the wave of the tempo brilliantly, her phrasing adding to the mystique.
"Freedom Day,” the second track from Max Roach’s 1961 We Insist! Freedom Now Suite is an epic set of movements that teleport listeners through the depths of slavery to the jubilation of emancipation and ultimately points us to a vision for true liberation. In addition to Roach and Lincoln, the album features saxophonist Walter Benton, trumpeter Booker Little, trombonist Julian Priester, and percussionist Michael Olatunji. Most special, both in terms of musical and symbolic presence, is that of Coleman Hawkins – a saxophone giant and founding father of the tenor saxophone. Born in 1904 and featured on the album, which was released only six years before his retirement, Hawkins's participation on this revolutionary work is representative of a most honorable nod of approval toward the next generation in the freedom struggle.
By coincidence, We Insist! was released exactly sixty years before President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, largely in response to the lynching of George Floyd by members of the Minneapolis Police Department. Juneteenth, a historic tradition of celebration for the full emancipation of enslaved Africans in America, has come to symbolize the genuine meaning of Independence Day.
It’s the power of this song that makes the significance of this past Juneteenth so important. On Wednesday, June 19, 2024, Max Roach – the iconic drummer and black instrumental music pioneer – was honored with a street co-naming. An initiative originally put into motion by a community-driven grassroots cohort, the newly designated Max Roach Way, located on the corner of Greene and Marcy Avenues in Bedford Stuyvesant, is where the future innovator laid the groundwork for his life’s work in music.
“I think that richness and appreciation of black culture came from Brooklyn,” his daughter Dara Roach recently said to me in an interview with her four siblings. “I saw so much pride. When you think a lot of yourself and you have a strong-minded sense like my father, I mean, that doesn't just happen. He was very intentional. [Same with] Randy Weston. They were very intentional... representing their people in a positive light. And not taking any mess from anybody, right? And I think that comes from a place.”
Max Roach was born on January 8, 1924, in Newland Township, North Carolina, before his parents migrated to New York when he was four years old. Settling in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Roach grew up in a musical household where the arts were supported and encouraged. He received a drum set from his father as an elementary school graduation present. Roach attended Boys High School on Marcy Avenue in his Bed Stuy neighborhood, graduating in 1942. His family church, Concord Baptist Church, is where he got some of his earliest training.
The first jazz musician to be honored with a MacArthur “Genius Grant” fellowship, receiving a New York City street co-naming is a most fitting honor, as Roach has joined the likes of Donald Byrd, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Elmo Hope, and close friend, Thelonious Monk.
“Max made us musicians, it's that simple,” says drummer and bandleader T.S. Monk, who shared a close relationship with Roach from childhood until Roach’s passing in 2007. “First we were drummers and then Max came along and played with such genius and that was a tremendous change for everybody – for all the other drummers. We became musicians after Max Roach, and we were not musicians before Max Roach. I would not be who I am today had it not been for Max Roach.”
Referring to a time when drummers were often relegated to the background, Roach’s approach to the instrument, his becoming a virtuosic composer, and his innovations – including creating interplay between the various tones on the drum kit, thus adding melodic elements – elevated the instrument and ushered the drums to the fore in the music we call jazz. His expansion of the instrument is heard on records like Monk Sr.’s Brilliant Corners, in Roach’s groundbreaking quintet with Clifford Brown, his prolific work with Abbey Lincoln, and with his innovative groups like The Max Roach Double Quartet and percussion ensemble M'Boom.
Speakers for the street naming celebration included councilmember Chi Ossé; New York City Mayor Eric Adams; daughter and musician, Maxine Roach; Emmy-award-winning journalist Janus Adams; drummer, percussionist, and M’Boom founding member Warren Smith; Assemblywoman Stefani L. Zinerman; and acclaimed drummer and Max Roach protege Nasheet Waits.
“The street naming celebrates and demonstrates how a man’s perseverance and fierce dedication to one’s culture can result in genius,” Waits expressed in a post-celebration conversation. “It speaks of a family that cultivated a consciousness in a boy. A consciousness and dedication that yielded a genius, that was used to not only innovate in his craft but to inform this world's citizens. A true hero, whose formative years were spent in that very neighborhood where the street was named after him.”
Performances included a solo piece by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra drummer Obed Calvaire, The Marcus Garvey Drummers Collective and Drums of Thunder — elementary school percussionists from Hillside Elementary School in Montclair, New Jersey, who played excerpts of Roach's classic "Mop Mop," and "Un Poco Loco," the Bud Powell piece, on which Roach created the innovative 8/8 rhythm. The street co-naming is one of several centennial celebrations, including the upcoming A Max Roach 100th Tribute With: M'boom, featuring Warren Smith & Joe Chambers and The Kojo Melché Roney Experience, presented by Jazzmobile & SummerStage on August 16th at Marcus Garvey Park.
“People are going to move into this community, and they may [or may not] know who [he is],” says Roach’s daughter Ayo of the significance of the newly ordained corner in Bedford Stuyvesant. “Generations of people are going to learn about who [he is] into perpetuity, essentially. But that wasn't necessarily something that came up. He thought about how to preserve his archives. He thought about where he might want his archives to go. There were things in place that could tell his story for some time, I think that was something that he was thoughtful about.” Of his Juneteenth celebration during his centennial year, Ayo adds, “I think he would have been incredibly proud. It would have meant so much to him. And I don't think it was something that he necessarily envisioned. And the fact that the community came together to honor him in this way... I think it [would have] meant the world to him.”
“Max Roach Way stands as a testament to the enduring impact of Roach’s contributions to music and culture,” his son Raoul said in a recent Facebook post. “This street co-naming honors not only his extraordinary talent and achievements but also his deep roots in the Brooklyn community.”
Nasheet Waits adds, “This spirit of Max will resonate through the eyes of anyone who glances up at the corner of Greene and Marcy to find their way.”
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I had the opportunity to sit with the five children of Max Roach – Daryl, Maxine, Raoul, Ayo, and Dara – for an upcoming podcast episode of Milestones: Celebrating the Culture. We discussed the recent street naming ceremony in Brooklyn and his contributions to music and culture, their efforts to preserve and honor his memory, and their vision for his legacy, one hundred years after his birth. This and so much more – including how the beauty of two jazz legacies – those of Roach and Monk, were rooted in deep friendship and abiding love. Join us for this historic conversation that drops August 2nd on WBGO Studios or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
