Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Max Roach’s unerring sense of time, dynamic interplay and melodic invention gave drum virtuosity another dimension. His 1940s recordings accompanying Charlie Parker laid down a template for modern jazz drumming. He went on to introduce complex time signatures to modern jazz, developed multimedia projects and recorded with leading avant-garde figures. Indicating his stylistic reach, Roach’s last two recordings were an Asian improv set with the Beijing Trio and a quartet album with veteran trumpeter Clark Terry. Roach died in 2007.The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) now marks the centennial of the drummer’s birth with a set of Roach compositions from his early bandleading days. The earliest, “Blues Waltz”, was originally released on the 1957 album Jazz in 3/4 Time. “The Drum Also Waltzes”, from 1966’s Drums Unlimited, is the most recent. The first gives small-group jazz orchestral heft to open JLCO’s set; the second is astutely reconfigured as a solo performance by drummer/director Obed Calvaire.The body of the album focuses on pieces that explicitly reference Roach’s political activism. “Freedom Day” and “Driva Man”, two effortless examples of 5/4 time, are from the landmark 1960 album We Insist. The original recordings were notable for their rhythmic thrust, closely harmonised, keening horns and dynamic Abbey Lincoln vocals.Here, the close harmonies are expanded by the orchestra’s brass. The bustle and drama of “Freedom Day” sits on a bed of urgent swing while vocalist Shenel Johns makes the most of Oscar Brown’s original lyrics. Her forceful vocals, as well as sighing brass and pensive solos, make sure “Driva Man” loses none of its original impact, and the Chorale Le Château fleshes out her singing on “Lonesome Lover”.The album ends with drummer Calvaire name-checking Roach and Haitian drummer Ti Roro as key influences on a stirring mix of Haitian inflections and modern jazz. As on the album as a whole, orchestral flair and well-crafted solos grip the listener.★★★★☆‘The Music of Max Roach’ is released by Blue Engine Records
