Max Roach would have been 100 this year. Roach, an American music pioneer who died at 83 in 2007, was a jazz drummer, composer and band leader. His percussive rhythms laid the foundation for the bebop era. He was also an activist who used his music as a platform for his political beliefs. Nowhere was this more evident than in his 1960 landmark avant-garde album, “We Insist!”. The music reporter Marcus J. Moore takes a look at the album’s impact and reflects on Roach’s lasting legacy.
Max RoachCredit...Photo Illustration by The New York Times; Photo: Steve Berman/The New York Times
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