By MALIK B. ALI

Crimson Staff Writer

Call Max Roach Mr. Cutting Edge. In the 1940s and 50s, Roach catalyzed the drum set’s redefinition with his sophisticated rhythmic approach. His Freedom Now Suite of 1960—a work banned by the Republic of South Africa—reflected his political concerns. In the 1970s Roach founded the M’BOOM Percussion Ensemble. Over the years, he has worked with actor Bill Cosby, poet Maya Angelou and playwright Sam Shepard, among others.

Roach’s deliberate mixture of media and art forms is closely mirrored by the multicultural nature of the drum set. As Roach explains, the cymbals are from the Middle East, Africa and Native America provide the side drums, and the snare and bass drums are shared by various world musics. All this diversity leads Roach to reject limiting labels. He believes “Jazz” is one such label.

In April 2001, Roach was honored as Harvard’s Guest Artist in Residence. The residency culminated in a concert that featured Roach, along with pianist Connie Crothers and dancer Dianne Walker. On the eve of that event, Roach discussed with The Crimson a few of his views on art, history, and life.

The Harvard Crimson: This event reflects Harvard’s commitment to your art form. What do you think of the modern movement to advance the music in academic settings?

Max Roach: Well, it’s not anything that hasn’t been happening. When I was very young academia was interested in this music. A lot of professors are interested in the music from a historical point of view, they’ve written extensively about it. A lot has to be done. I’m interested in the language that they use to describe it. For example, I don’t think jazz is a good word to describe what this music is really about.