SXSW Film Review: Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes

The documentary about the groundbreaking jazz drummer’s career is co-directed by Samuel Pollard and Ben Shapiro, who pooled their separate early efforts to mount a singular biopic about Roach and created this informative and powerful investigation into the musician’s accomplishments and legacy.

It’s clear from the film’s opening seconds that the artist and his milieu will be inextricably entwined when we hear an on-camera white journalist asks Roach early in his career if his music can be used as a weapon. In reply, Roach, whose music demonstrably reflects the conflicted racial times, answered in the affirmative and went on to explain that even the term “jazz” is diminishing when a more proper descriptor might be something like “African American instrumental music.

We may have Max Roach to thank for the often-dreaded drum solo in modern music. Roach lifted drumming from a mere beat-keeping anchor to an expressive instrumental showpiece and compositional tool. Playing with titans such as Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Thelonious Monk in his early bebop years, Roach formed several combos of his own and developed a style that fostered free improvisation, and by the Seventies even created a percussion ensemble called M’Boom.

For their interviews, the filmmakers largely tap fellow musicians who knew Roach and could add personal knowledge and reminiscences rather than jazz historians and academics presenting facts. Interviewees include such musicians as Sonny Rollins, Harry Belafonte, Roach’s former wife Abbey Lincoln, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Randy Weston, Fab 5 Freddy, and poet Sonia Sanchez.

Very cool he doesn’t get enough recognition micro_chop you ever done a Max Roach dive?

Entertainment Entertainment Latest News, Entertainment Entertainment Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Sweeps Oscars 2023, Wins Best Picture‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ took home the gold for best picture, capping off a whirlwind Oscars season. With michelleyeoh in it will should be spectacular.
Source: VanityFair - 🏆 391. / 55 Read more »

'Lucky Hank' Review: Bob Odenkirk's New Show Is a Salty-Sweet Must-Watch Comedy | SXSWLuckyHank sees Bob Odenkirk at the top of his game in his return to TV as a disgruntled, yet humorously self-aware professor. Our SXSW2023 review:
Source: Collider - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »

Raven Banner Takes On Worldwide Sales For Mongolian SXSW Title ‘Aberrance’EXCLUSIVE: Raven Banner has picked up worldwide sales rights to Mongolian-language horror film Aberrance, which will receive its North American premiere at SXSW in the Midnighters section. The feat…
Source: DEADLINE - 🏆 109. / 63 Read more »

‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ Directors Reveal How They Were Introduced to the Game | SXSW 2023John Francis Daley, who co-directed the film with Jonathan Goldstein, first learned about Dungeons & Dragons on the set of ‘Freaks and Geeks.’
Source: THR - 🏆 411. / 53 Read more »

Disney Parks Boss Shows Off “Real” Lightsaber Onstage At SXSWDisney Parks and Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro gave a presentation at SXSW this weekend that promised a focus on “The Art & Science of Disney Parks Storytelling,” and boy did he… So cool
Source: DEADLINE - 🏆 109. / 63 Read more »