Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1990, Columbia recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records. Artists who have recorded for Columbia include Harry Styles, AC/DC, Louis Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Beyoncé, Dave Brubeck, The Byrds, Johnny Cash, Mariah Carey, The Chainsmokers, The Clash, Miles Davis, Rosemary Clooney, Neil Diamond, Celine Dion, Bob Dylan, Wind & Fire, Duke Ellington, 50 Cent, Erroll Garner, Benny Goodman, Adelaide Hall, Billy Joel, Janis Joplin, John Mayer, George Michael, Billy Murray, Pink Floyd, Lil Nas X, Frank Sinatra and Garfunkel, Bessie Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, Andy Williams, Pharrell Williams, Bill Withers, Paul Whiteman, Joe Zawinul The Columbia Phonograph Company was founded in 1887 by stenographer and New Jersey native Edward D. Easton and a group of investors.
It derived its name from the District of Columbia. At first it had a local monopoly on sales and service of Edison phonographs and phonograph cylinders in Washington, D. C. Maryland, Delaware; as was the custom of some of the regional phonograph companies, Columbia produced many commercial cylinder recordings of its own, its catalogue of musical records in 1891 was 10 pages. Columbia's ties to Edison and the North American Phonograph Company were severed in 1894 with the North American Phonograph Company's breakup. Thereafter it sold only phonographs of its own manufacture. In 1902, Columbia introduced a molded brown wax record, to use up old stock. Columbia introduced black wax records in 1903. According to one source, they continued to mold brown waxes until 1904 with the highest number being 32601, "Heinie", a duet by Arthur Collins and Byron G. Harlan; the molded brown waxes may have been sold to Sears for distribution. Columbia began selling disc records and phonographs in addition to the cylinder system in 1901, preceded only by their "Toy Graphophone" of 1899, which used small, vertically cut records.
For a decade, Columbia competed with both the Edison Phonograph Company cylinders and the Victor Talking Machine Company disc records as one of the top three names in American recorded sound. In order to add prestige to its early catalog of artists, Columbia contracted a number of New York Metropolitan Opera stars to make recordings; these stars included Marcella Sembrich, Lillian Nordica, Antonio Scotti and Edouard de Reszke, but the technical standard of their recordings was not considered to be as high as the results achieved with classical singers during the pre–World War I period by Victor, England's His Master's Voice or Italy's Fonotipia Records. After an abortive attempt in 1904 to manufacture discs with the recording grooves stamped into both sides of each disc—not just one—in 1908 Columbia commenced successful mass production of what they called their "Double-Faced" discs, the 10-inch variety selling for 65 cents apiece; the firm introduced the internal-horn "Grafonola" to compete with the popular "Victrola" sold by the rival Victor Talking Machine Company.
During this era, Columbia used the "Magic Notes" logo—a pair of sixteenth notes in a circle—both in the United States and overseas. Columbia stopped recording and manufacturing wax cylinder records in 1908, after arranging to issue celluloid cylinder records made by the Indestructible Record Company of Albany, New York, as "Columbia Indestructible Records". In July 1912, Columbia decided to concentrate on disc records and stopped manufacturing cylinder phonographs, although they continued selling Indestructible's cylinders under the Columbia name for a year or two more. Columbia was split into one to make records and one to make players. Columbia Phonograph was moved to Connecticut, Ed Easton went with it, it was renamed the Dictaphone Corporation. In late 1922, Columbia went into receivership; the company was bought by its English subsidiary, the Columbia Graphophone Company in 1925 and the label, record numbering system, recording process changed. On February 25, 1925, Columbia began recording with the electric recording process licensed from Western Electric.
"Viva-tonal" records set a benchmark in tone and clarity unequaled on commercial discs during the 78-rpm era. The first electrical recordings were made by Art Gillham, the "Whispering Pianist". In a secret agreement with Victor, electrical technology was kept secret to avoid hurting sales of acoustic records. In 1926, Columbia acquired Okeh Records and its growing stable of jazz and blues artists, including Louis Armstrong and Clarence Williams. Columbia had built a catalog of blues and jazz artists, including Bessie Smith in their 14000-D Race series. Columbia had a successful "Hillbilly" series. In 1928, Paul Whiteman, the nation's most popular orchestra leader, left Victor to record for Columbia. During the same year, Columbia executiv
Chu Berry
Leon Brown "Chu" Berry was an American jazz tenor saxophonist during the 1930s. According to music critic Gary Giddins, musicians called him "Chu" because he chewed on the mouthpiece of his saxophone or because he had a Fu Manchu mustache. Berry was born in West Virginia, he graduated from Lincoln High School, in Wheeling attended West Virginia State College for three years. His sister Ann played piano. Berry became interested in music at playing alto saxophone, at first with local bands, he was inspired to take up the tenor saxophone after hearing Coleman Hawkins on tour. Most of Berry's career was spent with swing bands: Sammy Stewart, 1929–1930, with whom he switched to tenor sax, Benny Carter, 1932–1933, Teddy Hill, 1933–1935, Fletcher Henderson, 1935–1937, Cab Calloway, his best-known affiliation, from 1937 to 1941. Throughout his brief career, Berry was in demand as a sideman for recording sessions under the names of various other jazz artists, including Spike Hughes, Bessie Smith, the Chocolate Dandies, Mildred Bailey, Teddy Wilson, Billie Holiday, Wingy Manone and Lionel Hampton.
During the period 1934–1939, while saxophone pioneer Hawkins was playing in Europe, Berry was one of several younger tenor saxophonists, such as Budd Johnson, Ben Webster and Lester Young who vied for supremacy on their instrument. Berry's mastery of advanced harmony and his smoothly-flowing solos on uptempo tunes influenced such young innovators as Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker; the latter named his first son Leon in Chu's honor. Berry was one of the jazz musicians who took part in jam sessions at Minton's Playhouse in New York City, which led to the development of bebop. "Christopher Columbus", which Berry composed with lyrics by Andy Razaf, was the last important hit recording of the Fletcher Henderson orchestra, recorded in 1936. It is one of the most popular riff tunes from the swing era, it was incorporated into Jimmy Mundy's arrangement of Sing, Sing for Benny Goodman's band. This was used as the final showstopper in Goodman's first Carnegie Hall jazz concert of January 16, 1938. Four sessions were organized with Berry as leader, in 1937, 1938, 1941.
Berry died on October 27, 1941 in Conneaut, from a car accident. Chu Berry is the unofficial name of a series of saxophones produced by the C. G. Conn company during the 1920s, though it is more accurate to refer to them as the Conn New Wonder Series II. C. G. Conn never used the term "Chu Berry" to refer to any of their saxophones. Berry played a model of tenor sax known as the Conn Transitional and is not known to have played a New Wonder Series II; some saxophone owners use the term "Chu Berry" in reference to any Conn saxophone made between 1910 and the mid-1930s, including soprano, baritone and C melody saxophones, none of which Berry played. "Now You're Talking My Language"/"Too Marvelous for Words" "Indiana"/"Limehouse Blues" "Sittin' in"/"Forty-six West Fifty-two" "Stardust"/"Body and Soul" "Blowing Up a Breeze"/ "Monday at Minton's" "On the Sunny Sides of the Street" / "Gee, Ain't I Good To You" Chu Berry Sittin' In 1992 The Original American Decca Recordings, Count Basie 1995 The Complete RCA Victor Recordings, Dizzy Gillespie 2002 Quintessence: New York-Chicago 1924–1936, Fletcher Henderson 2003 Quintessence New York-Chicago: 1933–50, Teddy Wilson 2007 The Complete Lionel Hampton Victor Sessions 1937–1941, Lionel Hampton 2012 The Billie Holiday Collection: 1935–42, Billie Holiday
Topeka High School
Topeka High School is a accredited high school, serving students in grades 9–12, located in Topeka, Kansas. It is one of four high schools within Topeka Public Schools. In the 2010-2011 school year, there were 1,840 students enrolled. Topeka High School was established in 1871, moved to its current location in 1931. At the time, it was among the first million dollar high schools west of the Mississippi River. Topeka High offers a variety of sports and extracurricular activities, notable alumni include Charles Curtis, 31st Vice President of the United States. Topeka High School's mission "is to prepare all students for college and/or career readiness and success in a global society"; the Topeka Board of Education established Topeka High School in 1871, the first classes were held on the 3rd floor of Lincoln College at the time located where the GAR Memorial Hall is today. Over the next 10 years, the school was moved to various locations, including the Washburn Building at 10th and Jackson, a room situated above the Topeka YMCA and Daily Capital newspaper.
In 1882, the first black student graduated from Topeka High. Attendance continued to outgrow the capacity of the school facilities, in 1894 a new school was completed on the northwest corner of 8th and Harrison, at a cost of $85,000. Topeka High School's student population had reached 1,000 by 1903, a decision was made to construct a Manual Training High School across the street on the southwest corner of 8th and Harrison, at a cost of $100,000. One third of the new building would be for manual training, the remainder used for academic classes. In 1915, an auditorium and cafeteria were added to the north school, the old auditorium was converted to classes. Soon after, a portable frame building was constructed to serve as a study hall and library, in 1923, an administration building known as'The Annex' was added to the west side of the south building. In 1921, Topeka High's cafeteria cook Ida M. Moyer was declared "Champion Pie Baker of the World", it was calculated. Overcrowding persisted at the new facility, made worse in 1924 when Topeka's Fire Marshall closed the school's 4th floor, calling it "the biggest fire trap in the city".
A committee planning the construction of a new high school recommended that one large school be built, that it occupy an entire city block. They wished it to be "an addition to the City's public buildings, not just another building". Bishop James Wise offered to sell the grounds of Bethany College and other church property for a price of $142,000, in 1928, Topeka voters approved issuing bonds of $1.1 million to finance construction of the new Topeka High School. Thomas Williamson and Ted Griest were selected as architects, Linus Burr Smith as designer. Construction of the new school took 18 months, the total cost was $1.8 million. The school opened in September 1931, there were 2000 students enrolled by the following year. A spar from the USS Constitution was acquired with the assistance of Vice President Curtis, mounted on a nautical base in the plaza to serve as a flagpole, it was dedicated in October 1931. After years of wear, a replacement spar from the USS Constitution, was installed in 2004.
Topeka High's'Hoehner Auditorium' was selected as the site for the inauguration of Kansas Governor Payne Ratner, on January 9, 1939. In 1957, Time and Newsweek listed Topeka High among the 38 best schools in the nation. Two new high schools helped ease the crowded conditions at Topeka High: Highland Park High School was annexed into Topeka in 1958, Topeka West High School was completed in 1961. Restructuring of the district curriculum meant that in 1980, students in the 9th grade would begin attending high school. In 1984, Topeka High installed a computer-assisted automated dialing device which called home each time a student was truant. Principal Ned Nusbaum commented, "It's been a effective tool for getting kids into class"; the US Dept of Education recognized Topeka High as a "School of Excellence" in 1989. In 2001, Topeka High awarded an honorary diploma to the Honorable Eric S. Rosen, Kansas Supreme Court—a longtime supporter of the school; the school celebrated its 75th Anniversary at its current site on September 17, 2006.
In 2007, Topeka High School was ordered to stop providing free condoms to students, as it was contrary to school district policy. The annual Martin Luther King event, sponsored by the state of Kansas, took place in Hoehner Auditorium in 2012. Topeka High is located near the Statehouse, the governor's celebration at the new venue was well received; the 1931 campus is a stunning, three-story Gothic building of 278,000 square feet designed by Thomas W. Williamson, a 1907 graduate of Topeka High School. Notable architecture includes an ornate bell tower, which rises 165 feet over the main building entrance and contains an 18-note Deagan tubular tower chime. In 1974, the tower was rededicated in honor of Thomas Williamson; the library was modeled after the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace. Much of the wood shelving is hand-carved, the ceiling is hand-painted; the original chairs, now 75 years old, remain in the library and have been restored by the Topeka High School Historical Society. The 1931 building was fitted with a water supply and drain for a pool, though rising costs and concerns about segregation delayed the pool's construction until 1957.
In 2005, the 20-yard swimming pool located underneath the gym was closed and converted into Laney Gym. It is used for P. E. classes and wrestling. An additional gym was constructed on the soccer field located
Body and Soul (1930 song)
"Body and Soul" is a popular song and jazz standard written in 1930 with music by Johnny Green and lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton. "Body and Soul" was written in New York City for the British actress and singer Gertrude Lawrence, who introduced it to London audiences. Published in England, it was first performed in the United States by Libby Holman in the 1930 Broadway revue Three's a Crowd. In Britain, the orchestras of Jack Hylton and Ambrose recorded the ballad first in the same week in February 1930. In the United States, the tune grew in popularity, by the end of 1930 at least 11 American bands had recorded it. Louis Armstrong was the first jazz musician to record "Body and Soul", in October 1930, but it was Paul Whiteman and Jack Fulton who popularized it in United States. "Body and Soul" is one of the most recorded jazz standards, multiple lyric have been written for it. "Body and Soul" is performed in the key of D flat major. There is a verse that precedes the chorus, but it is performed.
The main part of the tune consists of a repeated eight-bar melody, followed by an eight-bar bridge and a final eight-bar return to the melody. The 32-bar AABA form is typical of popular songs of the time; the "A" section uses conventional chord progressions including ii–V–I turnarounds in the home key of D flat, however the bridge is unusual in its tonal center shifts. It has been described as "a bridge like no other". "Body and Soul" is considered a challenging piece to solo over. One of the most famous and influential takes was recorded by Coleman Hawkins and His Orchestra on October 11, 1939, at their only recording session for Bluebird, a subsidiary of RCA Victor; the recording is unusual in. Because of this, as well as the imaginative use of harmony and break from traditional swing cliches, the recording is recognised as part of the "early tremors of bebop". In 2004, the Library of Congress entered it into the National Recording Registry. "Body and Soul" was recorded as a duet by Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse on March 23, 2011.
It was the final recording made by Winehouse before her death on July 23, 2011 at the age of 27. The single was released worldwide on September 14, 2011, what would have been her 28th birthday, on iTunes, MTV and VH1; when the song reached number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of October 1, 2011, it made Bennett, at age 85, the oldest living artist to chart on the Hot 100, surpassing the previous record of George Burns. This record was surpassed by Christopher Lee in 2013, it gave Bennett the longest overall span of appearances on the Hot 100. The song received a Grammy Award at the 54th Grammy Awards in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category on February 12, 2012. Proceeds from "Body and Soul" go to benefit The Amy Winehouse Foundation, an organisation created to raise awareness and support for young adults struggling with addiction. List of 1930s jazz standards
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble that consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trombones, a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and dominated jazz in the early 1940s when swing was most popular; the term "big band" is used to describe a genre of music. One problem with this usage is. Big bands started as accompaniment for dancing. In contrast with the emphasis on improvisation, big bands relied on written compositions and arrangements, they gave a greater role to bandleaders and sections of instruments rather than soloists. Big bands have four sections: trumpets, saxophones, a rhythm section of guitar, double bass, drums; the division in early big bands was to be two or three trumpets, one or two trombones, three saxophones, a rhythm section. In 1930, big bands consisted of three trumpets, three trombones, three saxophones, a rhythm section of four instruments. Guitar replaced the banjo, double bass replaced the tuba. In the 1940s, Stan Kenton's band and Woody Herman's band used up to five trumpets, four trombones, five saxophones, a rhythm section.
An exception is Duke Ellington. Boyd Raeburn drew from symphony orchestras by adding to his band flute, French horn and timpani. Typical big band arrangements are written in strophic form with the same phrase and chord structure repeated several times; each iteration, or chorus follows twelve bar blues form or thirty-two-bar song form. The first chorus of an arrangement is followed by choruses of development; this development may take the form of improvised solos, written soli sections, "shout choruses". An arrangement's first chorus is sometimes preceded by an introduction, which may be as short as a few measures or may extend to chorus of its own. Many arrangements contain an interlude similar in content to the introduction, inserted between some or all choruses. Other methods of embellishing the form include cadential extensions; some big ensembles, like King Oliver's, played music, half-arranged, half-improvised relying on head arrangements. A head arrangement is a piece of music, formed by band members during rehearsal.
They experiment memorize the way they are going to perform the piece, without writing it on sheet music. During the 1930s, Count Basie's band used head arrangements, as Basie said, "we just sort of start it off and the others fall in." Before 1914, social dance in America was dominated by steps such as polka. As jazz migrated from its New Orleans origin to Chicago and New York City, suggestive dances traveled with it. During the next decades, ballrooms filled with people doing Lindy Hop; the dance duo Vernon and Irene Castle popularized the foxtrot while accompanied by the Europe Society Orchestra led by James Reese Europe. One of the first bands to accompany the new rhythms was led by a drummer, Art Hickman, in San Francisco in 1916. Hickman's arranger, Ferde Grofé, wrote arrangements in which he divided the jazz orchestra into sections that combined in various ways; this intermingling of sections became a defining characteristic of big bands. In 1919, Paul Whiteman hired Grofé to use similar techniques for his band.
Whiteman was educated in classical music, he called his new band's music symphonic jazz. The methods of dance bands marked a step away from New Orleans jazz. With the exception of Jelly Roll Morton, who continued playing in the New Orleans style, bandleaders paid attention to the demand for dance music and created their own big bands, they incorporated elements of Broadway, Tin Pan Alley and vaudeville. Duke Ellington led his band at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Fletcher Henderson's career started when he was persuaded to audition for a job at Club Alabam in New York City, which turned into a job as bandleader at the Roseland Ballroom. At these venues, which themselves gained notoriety and arrangers played a greater role than they had before. Hickman relied on Whiteman on Bill Challis. Henderson and arranger Don Redman followed the template of King Oliver, but as the 1920s progressed they moved away from the New Orleans format and transformed jazz, they were assisted by a band full of talent: Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone, Louis Armstrong on cornet, multi-instrumentalist Benny Carter, whose career lasted into the 1990s.
Swing music began appearing in the early 1930s and was distinguished by a more supple feel than the more literal 44 of early jazz. Walter Page is credited with developing the walking bass, though earlier examples exist, such as Wellman Braud on Ellington's Washington Wabble from 1927; this type of music flourished through the early 1930s, although there was little mass audience for it until around 1936. Up until that time, it looked upon as a curiosity. After 1935, big bands rose to prominence playing swing music and held a major role in defining swing as a distinctive style. Western swing musicians formed popular big bands during the same period. There was a considerable range of styles among the hundreds of popular bands. Many of the better known bands reflected the individuality of the bandleader, the lead arranger, the personnel. Count Basie played a relaxed, propulsive swing, Bob Crosby more of a dixieland style, Benny Goodman a hard driving swing, Duke Ellington's compositions were varied and sophisticated.
Many bands featured strong instrumentalists whose sounds dominated, such as the clar
St. Joseph, Missouri
St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, United States. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County, United States, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Buchanan, DeKalb counties in Missouri and Doniphan County, Kansas; as of the 2010 census, St. Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state, the third largest in Northwest Missouri. St. Joseph is located thirty miles north of the Kansas City, Missouri city limits; the city was named after the both the town's founder the biblical Saint Joseph. The city is located on the Missouri River, it is the birthplace of hip hop star Eminem as well as the death place of Jesse James. St. Joseph is home to Missouri Western State University. St. Joseph was founded on the Missouri River by Joseph Robidoux, a local fur trader, incorporated in 1843. In its early days, it was a bustling outpost and rough frontier town, serving as a last supply point and jumping-off point on the Missouri River toward the "Wild West".
It was the westernmost point in the United States accessible by rail until after the American Civil War. The main east-west downtown streets were named for Robidoux's eight children: Faraon, Francois, Edmond, Charles and Messanie; the street between Sylvanie and Messanie was named for Angelique. St. Joseph, or "St. Joe", as it was called by many, was a "Jumping-Off Point" for those headed to the Oregon Territory in the mid-1800s; these cities, including Independence, St. Joseph, were where pioneers would stay and purchase supplies before they would head out in wagon trains; the town was a bustling place, was the second city in the US to have electric streetcars. Between April 3, 1860, late October 1861, St. Joseph was one of the two endpoints of the Pony Express, which operated for a short period over the land inaccessible by rail, to provide fast mail service; the pony riders carried along with the mail, a small personal Bible. Today the Pony Express Museum hosts visitors in the old stables. On April 3, 1882 outlaw Jesse James was killed at his home located at 1318 Lafayette, now sited next to The Patee House.
In the post-Civil War years, when the economy was down, the hotel had served for a time as the home of the Patee Female College, followed by the St. Joseph Female College up to 1880. James was living under the alias of Mr. Howard. An excerpt from a popular poem of the time is: "...that dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard has laid poor Jesse in his grave." The Heaton-Bowman-Smith Funeral Home maintains a small museum about Jesse James. Their predecessors conducted the funeral; the museum is open to the public. His home is now known as the Jesse James Home Museum, it has been relocated at least three times, features the bullet hole from that fateful shot. St. Joseph is identified by the slogan, "Where the Pony Express started and Jesse James ended." Among properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places are the Patee House, a former hotel now maintained as a museum of transportation, the Missouri Theatre, an ornate movie palace. St. Joseph's population peaked in 1900, with a census population of 102,979.
This population figure is questionable, as civic leaders tried to inflate the numbers for that census. At the time, it was the home to one of the largest wholesale companies in the Midwest, the Nave & McCord Mercantile Company, as well as the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, the C. D. Smith & Company, which would become C. D. Smith Healthcare; the Walnut Park Farm Historic District near St. Joseph was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. In 1997, St. Joseph was named an "All-America City" by the National Civic League. St. Joseph was voted the top true western town of 2007 by True West Magazine, in the January/February 2008 issue. Saint Joseph is located at 39°45′29″N 94°50′12″W, on the Missouri/Kansas border in northwestern Missouri close to Nebraska; the nearest major metropolitan area to St. Joseph is the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, which begins 30 miles to the south; the nearest major airport is Kansas City International Airport, 35 miles to the south. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 44.77 square miles, of which 43.99 square miles is land and 0.78 square miles is water.
The monthly weather averages listed below are taken from National Weather Service 1981-2010 Normals. Snowfall is not recorded at the St Joseph weather station; as of the census of 2010, there were 76,780 people, 29,727 households, 18,492 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,745.4 inhabitants per square mile. There were 33,189 housing units at an average density of 754.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 87.8% White, 6.0% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 2.0% from other races, 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.7% of the population. There were 29,727 households of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.0% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, 37.8% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.01. In the ci
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, is considered alongside the most important drummers in history, he worked with many famous jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Dinah Washington, Charles Mingus, Billy Eckstine, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Eric Dolphy, Booker Little. He was inducted into the DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1992. Roach led his own groups, most notably a pioneering quintet co-led with trumpeter Clifford Brown and the percussion ensemble M'Boom, he made numerous musical statements relating to the civil rights movement. Max Roach was born to Alphonse and Cressie Roach in the Township of Newland, Pasquotank County, North Carolina, which borders the southern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp. Many confuse the Township of Newland with Newland Town in North Carolina.
Although his birth certificate lists his date of birth as January 10, 1924, Roach has been quoted by Phil Schaap as having stated that his family believed he was born on January 8, 1925. Roach's family moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York when he was 4 years old, he grew up in his mother being a gospel singer. He started to play bugle in parade orchestras at a young age. At the age of 10, he was playing drums in some gospel bands. In 1942, as an 18-year-old graduated from Boys High School, he was called to fill in for Sonny Greer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra when they were performing at the Paramount Theater in Manhattan, he starting going to the jazz clubs on 52nd Street and at 78th Street & Broadway for Georgie Jay's Taproom, where he played with schoolmate Cecil Payne. His first professional recording took place in December 1943, he was one of the first drummers, along with Kenny Clarke. Roach performed in bands led by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Bud Powell, Miles Davis.
He played on many of Parker's most important records, including the Savoy Records November 1945 session, which marked a turning point in recorded jazz. His early brush work with Powell's trio at fast tempos, has been praised. Roach studied classical percussion at the Manhattan School of Music from 1950 to 1953, working toward a Bachelor of Music degree; the school awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1990. In 1952, Roach co-founded Debut Records with bassist Charles Mingus; the label released a record of a May 15, 1953 concert billed as "the greatest concert ever", which came to be known as Jazz at Massey Hall, featuring Parker, Powell and Roach. Released on this label was the groundbreaking bass-and-drum free improvisation, Percussion Discussion. In 1954, Roach and trumpeter Clifford Brown formed a quintet that featured tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Richie Powell, bassist George Morrow. Land was replaced by Sonny Rollins; the group was a prime example of the hard bop style played by Art Blakey and Horace Silver.
Brown and Powell were killed in a car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in June 1956. The first album Roach recorded after their deaths was Max Roach + 4. After Brown and Powell's deaths, Roach continued leading a configured group, with Kenny Dorham on trumpet, George Coleman on tenor, pianist Ray Bryant. Roach expanded the standard form of hard bop using 3/4 waltz rhythms and modality in 1957 with his album Jazz in 3/4 Time. During this period, Roach recorded a series of other albums for EmArcy Records featuring the brothers Stanley and Tommy Turrentine. In 1955, he played drums for vocalist Dinah Washington at recordings, he appeared with Washington at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958, filmed, at the 1954 live studio audience recording of Dinah Jams, considered to be one of the best and most overlooked vocal jazz albums of its genre. In 1960 he composed and recorded the album We Insist!, with vocals by his then-wife Abbey Lincoln and lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr. after being invited to contribute to commemorations of the hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
In 1962, he recorded a collaboration with Mingus and Duke Ellington. This is regarded as one of the finest trio albums recorded. During the 1970s, Roach formed a percussion orchestra; each member performed on multiple percussion instruments. Personnel included Fred King, Joe Chambers, Warren Smith, Freddie Waits, Roy Brooks, Omar Clay, Ray Mantilla, Francisco Mora, Eli Fountain. Long involved in jazz education, in 1972 Roach was recruited to the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst by Chancellor Randolph Bromery, he taught at the university until the mid-1990s. In the early 1980s, Roach began presenting solo concerts, demonstrating that this multi-percussion instrument could fulfill the demands of solo performance and be satisfying to an audience, he created memorable compositions in these solo concert, a solo record was released by the Japanese jazz label Baystate. One of his solo concerts is available on video, which includes video of a recording date for Chattahoochee Red, featuring his working quartet, Odean Pope, Cecil Bridgewater, Calvin Hill.
Roach embarked on a series of duet recordings. Departing from the style he was best known for, most of the music on these recordings is free improvisation, created with Cecil
.jpg)
