Listen "Confirmation and Max Roach"
Episode Synopsis
(69) “Confirmation” and Max Roach Standards Rating 8 Difficulty Rating 8Max Roach (1924–2007) was a pioneering jazz drummer and composer who played a key role in shaping modern jazz. Raised in Brooklyn and classically trained at the Manhattan School of Music, Roach rose to prominence at 18 when he filled in for Duke Ellington’s drummer. A central figure in the bebop movement, he collaborated with icons like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis, helping redefine the drummer’s role as a melodic and expressive force. Roach co-led a quintet with trumpeter Clifford Brown, merging bebop with gospel and blues to form hard bop. His 1960 work We Insist! Freedom Now Suite boldly addressed civil rights through music. In 1970, Roach continued innovating by founding M’Boom, a percussion ensemble exploring rhythmic textures. He also devoted himself to education and received many honors for his lasting contributions to jazz. Charlie Parker’s bebop standard “Confirmation” exemplifies the genre’s complexity, with rapid ii-V progressions and surprising resolutions in a 32-bar F major form. Charlie Parker Gillespie and Parker Spotify Playlist
More episodes of the podcast The Jazz Real Book
Dreamsville and Henry Mancini
23/11/2025
Anthony Stanco Interview
19/11/2025
Dream a Little Dream Of Me and Diana Krall
16/11/2025
Jerome Sabbagh Interview
13/11/2025
Donna Lee and Claude Thornhill
09/11/2025
Paquito D'Rivera Interview
04/11/2025
Wolfgang Muthspiel Interview
28/10/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.