Earlier this week Max Roach died. It might have catched your attention, as the blogs are full of obituaries, reminiscences, short essays and mp3-excerpts of/about, well, the most influential drummer of the 20th century. He’s always been my favorite, as everything he plays is ultra-clear, and he thinks compositionally.

I don’t feel that there’s a need for me to write an appreciation of Roach’s work from his be-bop drumming with Parker, via Monk, to his own groups with Brownie and Booker Little, to the stunning duo’s from the seventies that I’m only now discovering; just start browsing here and you’ll find the rest: http://destination-out.com/?p=135.

(Free improv trombonist Paul Rutherford passed away as well earlier this week, and also as it seems bassist Art Davis).