UMass Amherst to Host Max Roach Centennial Celebration Oct. 20-26
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The College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Department of Music and Dance, the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies, and the Fine Arts Center will host the Max Roach Centennial Celebration from Oct. 20-26 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Max Roach’s birth.
The event series will celebrate Max Roach the drummer, composer, and bandleader whose work defined a new era in jazz; Max Roach the artist-activist whose unflinching advocacy of civil rights was felt well beyond his music; and Max Roach the educator who spent two decades as a member of the music and Afro-Am faculties at UMass.
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.
“We are proud to honor a visionary musician, activist, and educator whose legacy has profoundly shaped our community here at UMass Amherst,” says Maria del Guadalupe Davidson, dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. “Max Roach’s two decades of teaching and leadership helped transform our campus into a global hub for jazz education, inspiring generations of students and musicians. This centennial celebration is a tribute to his enduring impact on music, education, and the pursuit of artistic excellence.”
Jamilla Deria, director of the UMass Fine Arts Center, says, "It is a profound honor to celebrate Max Roach and those he worked with, who, despite great challenges, reimagined public higher education. Roach transformed our campus and community, introducing students to the richness of jazz and ensuring its lasting place in the academy and American culture. His legacy expanded minds, offering our students a deeper understanding of themselves and the world through his visionary work."
Roach made significant contributions during his tenure at the university, 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 and Dance Jazz in July programs in improvisation to help mentor jazz students, which are still thriving 40 years later.
A schedule of events for the Max Roach Centennial Celebration is as follows.
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: Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 4-6 pm, New Africa House Lobby
Edward 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, Great Hall
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); Sonia Sanchez (Poet, Activist, and Scholar), and royal hartigan (Jazz Drummer). Professor Amilcar Shabazz will moderate the panel and Professor James Smethurst will provide introductions (both are faculty in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies).
The Listening Room: royal hartigan & friends talk Max Roach
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024
11 a.m. to noon
Bezanson Recital Hall
Hosted by: Department of Music and Dance
Part of The Listening Room series, this talk features UMass alumnus royal hartigan, who will be joined by his Akoma Ensemble, consisting of Avery Sharpe, acoustic bass; Art Hirahira, piano; Charles Langford, saxophone and royal hartigan, drums. Jazz program director Jeffrey Holmes is the host.
Sharpe and hartigan were students in the Music Program in the 1970s to the early 1980s, and Max Roach was one of their primary teachers. They will speak about how Professor Roach influenced their lives and the musical legacy he left them and countless other students and play a piece or pieces related to their work with him.
Max Roach Tribute Concert by UMass Ensembles, Faculty, and Guests
Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Tillis Hall
Tickets: $15 General; $5 Seniors, students, UMass employees
Free for UMass students with ID
Hosted by: Department of Music and Dance
The Department of Music and Dance will bring together professional jazz musicians, distinguished alumni, and current faculty and student performers to pay tribute to Max Roach with a fast-paced and diverse collage concert in Tillis Hall on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024.
Performers will include:
- Guests: royal hartigan, drums; Herman Lebeaux, drums; Tom Briggs, drums; Avery Sharpe, bass; Charles Langford, saxophone
- Faculty: Jeff Holmes, piano/trumpet; Carl Clements, saxophone; Haneef Nelson, trumpet; Fumi Tomita, bass; Tom Giampietro, drums; Salvatore Macchia, bass
- UMass Wind Ensemble, Matthew Westgate, conductor
- Jazz Ensemble I, Jeffrey W. Holmes, director
- Minuteman Marching Band, Timothy T. Anderson, director
- And many more!
Order tickets online or by calling (413) 545-2511.
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.
To learn more, please visit umass.edu/humanities-arts/max-roach-centennial-celebration.