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HFA to Celebrate 100th Birthday of Legendary Jazz Drummer and Former Faculty Member Max Roach

January 9, 2024 Arts

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Max Roach and students

The HFA departments of Afro-American Studies and Music & Dance, as well as the Fine Arts Center, will collaborate to present concerts and presentations in October 2024 in celebration of the 100th birthday of Max Roach, legendary jazz drummer, activist, and one of the first jazz musicians to teach full-time at the college level right here at UMass Amherst.

The Max Roach Centennial Celebration will feature current faculty and students as well as visiting scholars, artists, and alumni. A tentative schedule can be found below.

Max Roach Centennial Celebration Schedule

Deeds Not Words: Celebrating the Life and Music of Percussionist and Drummer Max Roach in his Centennial Year, Edward Cohen Photography

Sept. 9, 2024 through Dec. 20, 2024
New Africa House Lobby
Hosted by: W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, in partnership with photographer and alumnus Edward Cohen '75
Opening Reception: Date and time forthcoming

Ed Cohen '75 is a graduate of UMass Amherst and has been an active commercial photographer in Western Massachusetts since finishing at UMass. In addition to typical work for hire subject matter, Cohen has specialized in event and concert photography, including the contents of the Edward Cohen Photographs of Max Roach collection, which was purchased by the University's Special Collections & University Archives. 

The collection is comprised of seventeen mounted photographs of Max Roach at UMass in the late 1980s, early 1990s. Roach is depicted in concert, backstage, and interacting with well-known musicians, UMass faculty, and members of the UMass community. 

Honoring the Legacy of Max Roach: A Panel and Conversation

Monday, Oct. 21, 2024
3-4:30 p.m.
Old Chapel
Hosted by: W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies

Panelists include Terri Lyne Carrington (Multiple Grammy Award–winning drummer, producer, and educator, Berklee School of Music); Guthrie Ramsey (Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Music, University of Pennsylvania); and Sonia Sanchez (Poet, Activist, and Scholar). Professor Amilcar Shabazz will moderate.

Music and Dance Tribute to Max Roach

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Tillis Hall
Hosted by: Department of Music and Dance

Max Roach Centennial Celebration Featuring Makaya McCraven

Friday, Oct. 25, 2024
8 p.m.
Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall
Reserved $50, $40, $30; Youth 17 and under and Five College students $15
Hosted by: Fine Arts Center

Makaya McCraven, who stands among the finest and most innovative drummers, composers, and bandleaders working in jazz today, leads this concert celebration. McCraven—who grew up in Amherst, the son of jazz drummer Stephen McCraven—has a lifelong association with Roach. Roach was a mentor to McCraven's father, Stephen, and a family friend. McCraven is also an alumnus of UMass and of Jazz In July, the Fine Arts Center’s summer jazz education program, which Roach helped found. Join the Fine Arts Center for this very special tribute to a true legend.

UMass Band Day at UMass Football

Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
3:30-6:30 p.m.
McGuirk Alumni Stadium
Cost: Entrance into football game
Hosted by: UMass Minuteman Marching Band

The UMass Minuteman Marching Band performs a jazz-themed halftime show, including "Ghost Dance" by Max Roach.

About Max Roach

Max Roach’s career included a rich history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the College of Humanities & Fine Arts (HFA). The legendary drummer was one of the first jazz musicians to teach full-time at the college level, joining the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies as a visiting professor in 1972.

Roach made significant contributions during his tenure, creating a vocal ensemble called the Voices of New Africa House Workshop Choir, which performed with acclaimed artists like Archie Shepp, DeeDee Bridgewater, and Cissy Houston; launching Drum, an award-winning literary magazine founded by and for Black students; and co-founding the Department of Music & Dance Jazz in July programs in improvisation to help mentor jazz students, which are still thriving 40 years later.

The university recently commemorated Roach's legacy for the UMass Black Presence Project, which launched in 2021. The Afro-Am department has also hosted several events, including its 2019 panel titled, “The Life and Legacy of Max Roach,” featuring a slew of artists, including his daughter and violist Maxine Roach, his “biographist” Herb Boyd, and visual artist Nelson Stevens.

Additional details about how the university will continue to celebrate Roach throughout 2024 will be shared as they are available.

Article posted in Arts for Faculty , Prospective students , Current students , Alumni , and Public

Related programs

  • Afro-American Studies
  • Music

Related departments

  • W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies
  • Music and Dance

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