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! ~ Glenn Astarita