Max Roach
Drums Solo on
St. Thomas

About

Taking the 2nd solo, this drums improvisation spans five choruses of the 16-bar form at a brisk latin feel at 214 BPM. Max Roach follows with five choruses of drum improvisation that are equally celebrated for their melodic clarity and structural coherence, demonstrating why Roach was considered the most musical of all jazz drummers. This is the longest solo on the recording in terms of chorus count, suggesting a featured role in the arrangement. Situated between Sonny Rollins's tenor sax solo and Sonny Rollins's turn on tenor sax, it occupies a pivotal spot in the arrangement.

Max Roach was 31 to 32 years old at the time.