Max
Roach
Born January 10, 1924, in New Land, NC
Died August 16, 2007, in New York City
“The American drummer,” Max Roach once said, “is a one-man percussion orchestra.” No one had a better right to make that claim — and no one demonstrated the truth of it so consistently for so long — than Roach...
Sonny
Rollins
Born September 9, 1930, in New York City
“I like to think there is a direct link between early jazz and jazz of our time,” tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins once told an interviewer. “I like to think that jazz can be played in a way you can hear the old as well as the new. At least that’s the way I play.”...
Wayne
Shorter
Born August 25, 1933, in Newark, NJ
Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis remembered, was “the idea person. The conceptualizer of a whole lot of musical ideas we did.” One of the most influential composers in jazz, Shorter gave birth to musical ideas that helped change the landscape of jazz in the 1960s...
Sarah
Vaughan
Born March 27, 1924, in Newark, NJ
Died April 3, 1990, in Los Angeles, CA
“Sassy,” Dizzy Gillespie once said, “can sing notes other people can’t even hear.” Sassy was none other than Sarah Vaughan, who sang out serpentine lines with the agility of a horn player...
