Max Roach, one of modern jazz’s most influential drummers, has died. Roach was a master, and can be heard on hundreds of recordings. I heard him live only once, in 1991, in a band with the great saxophonist Harold Land and the bassist George Morrow. I remember thinking during that set that in a bop quintet it really is the drummer who defines the group’s sound. (I think I even have his autograph from that event, although I can’t be sure; kind of a long story.)
Here’s a brief clip of Roach playing just a hi-hat: