Max Roach - The Complete Mercury Max Roach Plus Four Sessions [2000] (7 x CDs)

JAZZ SUNDAY

MAX ROACH

Max Roach - The Complete Mercury Max Roach Plus Four Sessions [2000] (7 x CDs)

This seven-CD box set features 95 tracks from legendary drummer Max Roach's small group, consisting of the 1956-1960 recordings for Emarcy and Mercury Records, as these noteworthy sessions also represent the drummer's post Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet output. In 1956 the jazz world witnessed the tragic and untimely deaths of the great trumpeter Clifford Brown and pianist Ritchie Powell. Within these seven CDs, we find Roach maintaining his assault on jazz along with trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Ray Bryant, and the drummer's bandmates from the Clifford Brown years, tenor saxophone giant Sonny Rollins and bassist George Morrow. Jazz aficionados will find a wealth of fantastic music here, as Roach also employed renowned artists such as tenor saxophonists Hank Mobley, Stanley Turrentine, and George Coleman, along with trumpeter Booker Little and many others of note. Essentially, Mosaic Records continues to excel in the reissue department, as they seemingly take great pains to portray or perhaps enhance the original LP recordings for modern day audiophiles and jazz connoisseurs. This collection also includes extensive annotations, biographies of the artists, interviews, recollections, and categorical documentation of the sessions presented in a matrix format. Here, the listener is treated to hard bop renditions of Charlie Parker's "Billie's Bounce" and "Koko," where trumpeter Kenny Dorham and tenor saxophonist George Coleman trade vicious, fierce fours, as the various aggregations and ensembles also tackle standards and originals. The infamous union of Max Roach and Buddy Rich originally titled, "Roach vs. Rich" presents an added bonus to this all encompassing package, as these works are further enhanced by Gigi Gryce's bold, fiery arrangements along with the addition of 14 previously unreleased alternate takes. Simply stated, Roach and Rich perform via a firebrand approach as the musician's distinct styles provide contrast and symmetry to Gryce's radiant horn charts. Basically, these pieces offer a glimpse of two masters/innovators whose respective techniques have often been imitated yet never duplicated. Suffice to state, Rich's blazing speed and unfathomable dexterity counterbalances Roach's complex, melodically constructed rolls, impeccable timing and bop-induced fills. Hence, the two are remarkable as they reciprocate impossibly fast motifs with cataclysmic fury. Overall, this 2000 release should be deemed required listening for astute observers of late-50's bebop and the continuing evolution of modern jazz. Highly recommended! (AMG review by Glenn Astarita)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Max Roach - Mr. X 5:18

02 Max Roach - Body And Soul 6:53

03 Max Roach - Just One Of Those Things 7:20

04 Max Roach - Ezz-Thetic 9:22

05 Max Roach - The Most Beautiful Girl In The World 7:07

06 Max Roach - Woody 'n' You 6:55

07 Max Roach - Dr. Free-Zee 2:10

08 Max Roach - I'll Take Romance 4:36

09 Max Roach - It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing) 4:44

10 Max Roach - Blues Waltz 6:37

11 Max Roach - Love Letters 8:55

CD2

01 Max Roach - Little Folks 5:40

02 Max Roach - Minor Trouble 7:01

03 Max Roach - Valse Hot 14:25

04 Max Roach - Lover 6:19

05 Max Roach - Raoul 4:49

06 Max Roach - This Time The Dream's On Me 5:21

07 Max Roach - Tune Up 7:46

08 Max Roach - Confirmation 4:29

09 Max Roach - Au Privave 4:19

10 Max Roach - Anthropology 4:28

11 Max Roach - Yardbird Suite 3:52

CD3

01 Max Roach - Billie's Bounce 5:37

02 Max Roach - Ko-Ko 7:58

03 Max Roach - Parker's Mood 8:25

04 Max Roach - Shirley (Stereo Take) 6:33

05 Max Roach - My Old Flame (Stereo Take) 3:36

06 Max Roach - Sporty 5:49

07 Max Roach - Stella By Starlight 4:20

08 Max Roach - Stompin' At The Savoy 2:53

09 Max Roach - Memo: To Maurice (Stereo Take) 7:35

10 Max Roach - Shirley (Mono Take) 6:41

11 Max Roach - My Old Flame (Mono Take) 3:40

12 Max Roach - Memo: To Maurice (Mono Take) 7:47

13 Max Roach - Stompin' At The Savoy (Mono Outchorus) 0:54

CD4

01 Max Roach - Spoken Introduction By Max Roach 2:32

02 Max Roach - La Villa 6:18

03 Max Roach - A Night In Tunisia 8:20

04 Max Roach - Deeds, Not Words 4:27

05 Max Roach - Minor Mode 5:30

06 Max Roach - Tune Up 5:25

07 Max Roach - Love For Sale 9:59

08 Max Roach - Prelude 5:10

09 Max Roach - Lepa 2:11

10 Max Roach - Connie's Bounce 5:21

11 Max Roach - A Little Sweet 3:08

12 Max Roach - Tympanalli 4:55

13 Max Roach - Bemsha Swing 5:30

14 Max Roach - There's No You 5:41

CD5

01 Max Roach - Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) 4:12

02 Max Roach - The Casbah 5:01

03 Max Roach - Sleep 3:22

04 Max Roach - Figure Eights 4:32

05 Max Roach - Yesterdays 5:43

06 Max Roach - Big Foot 5:05

07 Max Roach - Limehouse Blues 3:46

08 Max Roach - Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye 4:00

09 Max Roach - You're Mine, You 2:45

10 Max Roach - Come Rain Or Come Shine 3:21

11 Max Roach - Wild Is The Wind 3:20

12 Max Roach - Speak Low 2:53

13 Max Roach - I Concentrate On You 4:56

14 Max Roach - Moon-Faced And Starry-Eyed 2:57

15 Max Roach - Never Let Me Go 3:07

16 Max Roach - Namely You 2:55

17 Max Roach - Never Leave Me 6:52

18 Max Roach - You're My Thrill 3:41

CD6

01 Max Roach - Limehouse Blues (Alternate Take) 3:59

02 Max Roach - The Casbah (Alternate Take) 4:30

03 Max Roach - Big Foot (First Alternate Take) 5:04

04 Max Roach - Big Foot (Second Alternate Take) 5:16

05 Max Roach - Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing) (Alternate Take) 4:25

06 Max Roach - Speak Low (First Alternate Take) 2:09

07 Max Roach - Speak Low (Second Alternate Take) 2:53

08 Max Roach - Never Let Me Go (First Alternate Take) 3:10

09 Max Roach - Never Let Me Go (Second Alternate Take) 3:15

10 Max Roach - Come Rain Or Come Shine (First Alternate Take) 3:04

11 Max Roach - Come Rain Or Come Shine (Second Alternate Take) 3:14

12 Max Roach - Wild Is The Wind (Alternate Take) 3:20

13 Max Roach - You're Mine, You (First Alternate Take) 3:15

14 Max Roach - You're Mine, You (Second Alternate Take) 2:53

15 Max Roach - You're Mine, You (Third Alternate Take) 2:54

16 Max Roach - I Concentrate On You (Alternate Take) 4:50

17 Max Roach - Never Leave Me (Alternate Take) 6:43

CD7

01 Max Roach - Quiet As It's Kept 6:13

02 Max Roach - To Lady 6:09

03 Max Roach - Lotus Blossom 5:35

04 Max Roach - As Long As You're Living 5:59

05 Max Roach - The More I See You 4:04

06 Max Roach - Juliano 5:45

07 Max Roach - Parisian Sketches 17:12

08 Max Roach - Nica 4:49

09 Max Roach - Petit Dejeuner 4:06

10 Max Roach - Un Nouveau Complet 3:25

11 Max Roach - Liberte 6:25

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