Max Roach
Drums Solo on
Sandu

About

Closing out the solo section, this drums improvisation spans two choruses of the 12-bar blues at a medium-up swing tempo of 151 BPM. Max Roach closes with two choruses of drum improvisation over the blues form, approaching the drums as a melodic instrument with characteristic musical intelligence. This is the most concise solo on the recording, making every phrase count within a compact space. The 12-bar blues form provides a familiar harmonic framework that invites inventive melodic and rhythmic exploration. Coming after Richie Powell's piano solo, this is the final improvisation before the ensemble returns to the head.

Max Roach was 30 to 31 years old at the time.