Search - Max Roach :: Members, Don't Git Weary / Lift Every Voice And Sing

Spiritual Plow With A Soul Full Of Jazz = Dynamite!!!!

John W. Shearer | Richmond, Ky. USA | 11/21/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Max Roach as everyone knows is one of, if not the most influential and remarkable drummers of all time. That's not a stretch, to me that is fact. He has assembled a multitude of amazing players and singers here that makes for a treasure chest full of classic jazz/spiritual/gospel gems. You have two complete recordings beginning with the 1968 recording (Members, Don't Get Weary) and moving to the 1971 session (Lift Every Voice And Sing). Max's playing as is his ensembles chosen is absolutly riveting to the core. The emphasis is without mistake devoted to the soulful jazz and spirited gospel drive. Both of these recording's deliver's with earth shaking social/spiritual brilliance. These two session's are born out of Max's awareness and involvement in the turbulent, socially and troublesome times of the 1950's, 60's and 70's. These recording's are delightful, moving and uplifting while never seeming redundant or over stated. Max Roach was an avid activist in the civil rights arena and this is a spellbinding testament to his soulful and social consciousness. More simply stated, the jazz playing is off the chart as expected and the awesome vocals by The J. C. White Singers is just stunning. These session's are classic's and should not be missed or overlooked. Every fan of great music and supreme art of the highest degree should have these recording's on hand. Beautiful statement with a dynamic punch. I would rate these magnificent works and compositions 10 stars if that were possible. Don't delay grab this set now. Two masterpiece's on one disc. Wow."

Excellent

William R. Nicholas | Mahwah, NJ USA | 04/16/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Face it. Being passionate about music creates inherent bias: you decide you hate an artist and won't like anything they do, or admit when you do, or you will listen to an artist you love and find value no matter what.



Max Roach always falls on the favorable side of that axiom, with the exception being that I never have to find anything to like about his work; it always instantly shows itself when, music nut that I am, I crack the plastic on another of his albums.



Forget that he was a bop genius, who helped invent hard bop with Clifford Brown. Or that while other boppers were playing the music they invented in the 1940s in 1960, Max hired Eric Dolphy to work on Percussion Bitter Sweet, which he issued on the new, cutting edge Impulse! label. Max also was doing some of the most brutally honest civil rights material We Insist! Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite when the bed was hot and protest truly dangerous--as in, you could be killed. When that settled down, Max started working with Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton--real easy listening milktoasts, those two.





Is it any wonder why I want to gobble the ground Max walked on?



This set is a twofer, and has an blues album from 1970, and a gospel album from later in the decade. Member's Don't Get Wary is edgy blues, pretty straight work. But Max's amazing polyrhythms, some surprising chord changes, and plain old inventive playing keep this blues fresh and revealing--an artist with the sophistication of Roach does not return to the roots unless he has a point to make, and Members shows how he can weave amazing permutations with even the most basic roots music.



Speaking of that, Lift Every Voice And Sing is Gospel, which Max used so effectively on 1962s It's Time. Gospel goes back to slavery, and with Roach, it is as much political statement as it is worship. This is a mournful, minor key brand of the music, but Max gives it incredible power, both by his use of collective improvisation and the sheer soul of his treatments.





I think I have made a pretty convincing case for both these albums, but if not, perhaps two more words will help.



It's Max."