Max Roach
Drums Solo on
Blue 7

About

Closing out the solo section, this drums improvisation spans seven choruses of the 12-bar blues at a medium swing tempo of 137 BPM. The collective interplay between the three soloists creates a performance that functions almost as a suite, each musician's contribution building upon and extending the others'. This is the longest solo on the recording in terms of chorus count, suggesting a featured role in the arrangement. The 12-bar blues form provides a familiar harmonic framework that invites inventive melodic and rhythmic exploration. Coming after Tommy Flanagan's piano solo, this is the final improvisation before the ensemble returns to the head.

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