Max Roach (1924–2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer, a pioneer of bebop and a leading voice in politically engaged jazz.

Born January 10, 1924. Died August 16, 2007. Full name Maxwell Lemuel Roach Jr. Renowned American jazz drummer and composer; active from the 1940s until his death.

A vividly written, highly favorable review frames We Insist! Freedom Now Suite as a political jazz masterpiece. The review highlights Abbey Lincoln's vocal performance and Max Roach's emotionally charged drumming. It connects the album to anti-racist movements and civil-rights themes.

For:jazz listeners, fans of political music, students of civil-rights era art

 What do you want me to say? A masterpiece of that anti-racist political movement of which jazz became the standard-bearer at the end of the '50s, akin to "Free Jazz" by Ornette Coleman, powerful and fluid (forty minutes rarely have passed so quickly) like an uppercut of a raging bull, with Max Roach being a devil hitting his drums in a way only he could, an instrument that found in this performer rare emotional charge. His wife, Abbey Lincoln, gives the vocal performance of a career. Coleman Hawkins and the crew do the rest for the brass.

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