Max Roach Biography?

[Caravan]

I don't believe it. They (Max & Ornette) played together at the "alternative" Newport festival, ca. 1960, in a quartet with Mingus and Dorham. There is a famous photo of that (somewhere).

[Gheorghe]

Yes I know about it, the Newport Rebels. And I know the foto, always was quit amused there are more dogs in the background than "audience" or "fans", or did the dogs dig what they heard, maybe !

But now that I´m reading the Mingus Book "Mingus Speaks", he stated that he was not pleased with OC on stage and that he sounded poor when he tried to play a standard.

Well I know the version of Ornette Coleman of Parker´s "Klaktoveesedsteene" with Paul Bley. Ornette isn´t that bad, plays some fresh stuff on it, but I think after one chorus he lost the form or wasn´t interested anymore in the form.

Well, maybe Max Roach later changed his mind, maybe when he himself started to go more "far out", and.....last not least, didn´t Max record with Cecil Taylor......and compared to Cecil Taylor, OC is almost traditional.....

And the stuff Max did around 1985 with just a string quartet, (not the double quartet, only drums and a classical stringquartet): Sounds like the stuff Ornette Coleman would do with strings with Denardo on drums, it sounds very similar to that.....

[romualdo]

I don't believe it. They (Max & Ornette) played together at the "alternative" Newport festival, ca. 1960, in a quartet with Mingus and Dorham. There is a famous photo of that (somewhere).

There's a copy of that picture in the Mingus Candid Mosaic booklet

[Fer Urbina]

Hey all-

I've never posted before, but I've been lurking for a couple months and have really enjoyed a lot of the discussion going on around here.

I have a simple question -- does anyone know of a good Max Roach biography? He's a guy I've always wanted to learn some more about, but I've never come across a biography. He's certainly a worthy subject. Thanks in advance.

"Quintet of the Year" by Geoffrey Haydon has a nice chapter on Max

I second this. IIRC, Haydon was friends with Roach.

You have a couple of interesting references here: http://ncpedia.org/roach-max

F