Hollywood
Swinging
�'�Morgancelebrated�r
birthday as well � release of�r
yet to be titled �ming album
(dueFeb.14),witha mallga�ring
offricnds a� Rox-bury's on � SUIr
t Strip.
Roxbury' is pan-owned by
Debbi Allen and �r husbaOO
nn Nixon, who were on hand
along with actor Wesley Snipes,
actress V�Bell Qlllowayand
a bost of othets.
Meanwhile, Allen 18 once
again beennamcd cOOrcographetof
musical seqierees for the �
�64thAnnwl�my Awards.
Strictly
Business
Tre film "Strictly Bus�" is a
romantic comedy, quiie different
from many of � Black filrrs that
bave come out this year,
� by Kevin Hooks and
starring Ja;eph C � Halle
Barry, Am Marie Johmon, and
Tommy Davidson, best koown esa
series regular on "In Living Color",
is getting raves for his portrayal of a
mailroom clerk with his eye on the
executive suite. He says it was his
own similarities with the clmacSer
as well as the movie's �me that
made him want to be in it
Davidson, of course would li1ce
to oorrore filrrs, but in the mean
time, will contin� ooing his stand
up act
Jackson
launches
new company
Jackie Jackson � la� an
iOOeperdenl featwe film and 1V
production company,-Legacy
, E�rtainmenl
First on the docket is '�
Legacy", is a film about a � of
five multicultwal boys woo sing
8lX1 dance (soum familiar). Tbe
boys were haOOpicktd by Jackson
atkr a national talent search.
Tbe goo! of � CO!llJl8I1Y is to
create rmsic-besed family enter
tainment
Black
Panthers hit
the big screens
Grammy winning producer-
ngwnter Nile Rodps is resur
facing as a film prodoccr with
"�TerriIory", t.c.d on �
Blade Pantms, (mJ scm1uled to
��xtyear).
Rodgers, aom-� memberof
the BJaclC Panther Party, will also
score � film...Also being sOOt in
1992 is ''ShacJdd' about Black
PantmlawyerFay�. �l'
Strep will star.
- complied by K Banes
- contnbutors: Usa O>llim
(BehiOO the Sce�) & RadioScq>e
,�hmn
z
•
GETO BOYS MEMBERS- Willie D, Scarface and Bushwick Bill.
By NATHANIEL SCOTT
St." Writ.,
D1I'HRB.D--I grew up with Max
Road18lX1 other jazz misiciars. I grew up
scatting. . .dropping vocal dnun licks like
Rooch is roed for. Ani like many from
that bebop era, I carry a mental picture of
what jazz sbould sound like. And row,
yeatS laser, wren tre oppornmity to inter
view Max Roach rna rialized, to say til!
least, I was nervous.
Max Roach walked into the room with
an air of gentle reserve. He carried his 67
years with til! grace of Ali in his prime.
1m eyes dareed emhesiesrn behiOO
small-rinuned glasses am brought to mind
any nwnber of � college professors l'�
had. But his � tIDe lIlOOs that have
ka-boomed: Ka-boorred � Bird, Prez,
Dizzy, Miles, QifIoro, Sonny' (Rollins and
StitB), Boo, Monk, Colnare and many
more tneSIrerized me am all I could think
of wm: th:y were created to swing,
Max Roach, at 67, is swinging. He is
"enjoying" the music that sunounds him
am he connmes to be a 'force in creative
m\Bic;jB7Z.
HE MAINf AIN that j82Z is til!
l11\6ic of th: a>th Century am be believes
it will cootime to be a force in the 21st
cmtury ..
He has played � cutting edge of jazz
for five plus decades, acquiring such
awards as honorary doctorates, the French
"GnuJ:1 Prix do Disque" twice and an
"Obie" Award.
But mide from music, or to be specific,
iqpincd in � m�icofMaxRooch, there
. a deept2' side-a ide 1mt W$ born in
Nor1h caroum and theI} battered and
bruised into rnanl¥xx1 in New York aty.
In 1924, Max Roach�kickingand
� ink> the world destined, som:
might y, so beadrununer. Butdrurnmets
are drurnmets. Ani then th:ir are th:
Shadow Wilsons, th: Art Blakclys, the
Qick Webm, tre PhiUy Joe Jonescs and
Max Roach.
1lnsc were mj are the dnunmers that
Rooch said "play with all four lim ; both
feetml both haOOs." .
, When Max Roech talks about jazz re
18lks about "our mlSc"-rnusic that has
evolYcd out of the African American ex-
perierre.
•
Officials with the independent
reootd 1 sought a oompit1ble dis
tribution oornpany after Digital Audio
Di c Corporation declined to
manufacture and Geffen Records
refuied to re � Gek> boysm ic
in 1900bB:d on lyrical consent Now,
all Rap-A-Lot Reoords prod\C1S are
distnbuted through Priority Records,
"I knew it would go big mainly
because in the beginning �re W$ just
politics oolding 15 back," said Rap-A
Lot Records founder, James Smith.
Tbe Geto Boys' persistent struggle
to fight against controversy 8lX1 over
come, rrusic iOOustty rejection bas
earred tbem reoognition as serious
competitors in � world of rap.
From Hooson's Ftfth Ward ghet
m, Tbe Boys' nationally reccgnzed
music offers a sOOck:ing and realistic
glimpse at life on tre stree .
"For tbose who are in the gOOtto, it
feels like a losing situation to tty and
pull yourself out," said Smith woo
grew � in HoLSton's Fifth Ward.
"My best description of lire in the ghet-
10 would be 'Hell. living in Hell.'''
111: gro� is currently working on
-JA U Y
"Being in a sta of Jm800ia is 00
different from always lookingoveryou
ooulder because of all ire bad �
you've done in the past; roping it's rot
time to pay the piper," said WLllie D.
Parxer, Malcolm X. Martin Lu1her King.
Michael Jordon 8lX1 IXx:1or J exernpnry
(and exemplified ) Black genius, thesekid$
(theoncs woo� rap) exemplify
genilS."
Max Roach 1m beglll to produce
music, he said "I am going to reoonS
much � as I can with y� peq>1e'."
And in the "deroocratic" m15ic that he
plays you will hear the
kB boom, hap.
Bap,blp.
Pow!
Ka boonllboom.
Boom. Rat tat.
Tat/tat/latltat
Splal Rat tat
TaVlaVtat/lat
Ka boomA>oomboom.
e
1 �1 and this five decades phs playing
legeoo i till winging. He is till rolling
tbose S�, riding cymbals ard kicking
that bass. Ka- rn. Ka-boom.
AND WHEN HE talks about his for
mative ycan;.-the years that shaped and
made him one of the world's leading and
authoritative j82Z musicians, be talks about
being raised in the atmospbere oftre ''Hard
Shell"-Primitive Baptist Church, play
ing rmsic at "house rent parties" and that
"our music (born out of the African
American experience) is fluid"
He talks about how .. duringtre '2Q;and
, the church was his day care center.
About how his family. because they were
unable to pay the rent, freqiently moved
during tbose depression years, and about '
how tbe era that produced tbe Harlem
Renaissance brought him into contact with
great teachers in literature and music.
Max Roach said he began playing ire
drums wren he was unable to produce
sounds on tbe trumpet an older brother
played and be has Searched for the expres- HEADD D "Different people make
sionofwhat's inside him ever ince. a definite imp ion."
But MaxRoach' recantation is more And then there is the personal ide-
caise am effect. the family ide of Max Roach,
He talks about the envimnrnent of mar- Max Roach said he has been manied
ching bands, which he said, "louis three times and from two of Un;e mar-
Armstrong tarted in that kirxl of environ- nag be has five children. ''Two men and
ment," ard the supp ion that produced three women" is his terrnimlogy.
Bl�k piri�, jazz ard blues which be : The mal • Daryl and Raoul, live in
said gave b� to country ard tern, Calltorniaard tIl!yarepursuingactingand
ACCOrding to Max R h, Fletcher musical careers, respectively.
Henderso�, gave b.irth to.,tre b,ig band' A'daugh r Maxine has. a musical
soundand Nobel Sizzle am Hubie Blake, group ard tre twins Ayo and Dam, are
in Shum� Alo� set tbc tempo for Broad- �ttending Spelman College.
way musicals. " There is more, but wren you write
He ad� Heddy Ledbetter ard ire about Max Roach, words are precious,
blues ll8Trallves are til! source of country �y are so preci us that for days I was
aoo western (music)." baffled about how to approach Max
Roach's la t album, ''To � Max." An
album on which he oompa;cd all of �
tunes except two. '
But then I lard (l � I really lard)
that gc6pel cooir, � riffs, t� soort
coopping sta men� nmning freely along
tre stn.cture of sonr.one else's t:menl
aIX1 I mewhat \.U1detstood what Max
Rooch was ying in ''To � Max."
I heard ire anger, til! commentary, th:
whispered lo\e aIX1 tre gutted sounds of
damn your widccd ways (particularly on
"0 t �r'') arx1 I W$ proud thatMax
R charxl I went OOck to Ire C � togetrer.
I ked Max ut tre album aIXl about
"0 t Dancett and � said it about
re 'at Wowx1ed KIv:.e.
If you don't remem r WouOOed
Yet, trere is another side to Max
Roach. Aside that is mysterious, wonder
ful aIX1 refreshing.
There is a ide that brings to mind
James Baldwin, Richard Wright and
Langston Hughes. A side that is socially
conscious.
To set the stage for that side of Max
Roach, let's reminisce about some of ire
things resaid about hirnselfand his music.
''This music Ona) is deroocratic," be
said. "Itdepcnds n who' with you(rel1o
Bird, Dizzy, M nk, Mil Boo, both Son
nys am Trane to mention a few) deter
mines the way it urds."
MAX ROACH believ that we,
Black Americans, ex I in rertain areas
and that "until we are, n a iaVpolitical
level, enjoying a parity with others-in
America, we will oontinue to 00 so."
''1 grew upon Bli rx:1 Lemon," Max said.
"I remember playing on tre bread lirrs in
the' "
Max began playing at the a of six or
seven, re said. But he llidn't tart learning
music until re was 12 or 13. '
"We learn m ic from ourerus, oot our
eyes,"he 'd"M i' utemoti
affecting people."
However, Max R
comp<liiti n in I, t t drurm.
And rere we In the cl in da r
Ma Roach
� it was th: woolesale killingofmany
men, women and children woo were Na
�Am:ram.
And so Max Rosch, wOO mllccd about
opp�n, wOO said. wrhe kids woo <le
at: rap � from the same ki.IX1 of en
virommlt that Louis ArIr6tro�andKing
Oli\el' came from, " forges ahead.
Hesces, �andspealcsabout
the ''lack" tt adequa� edUCltioml iX>ls
thatcormnue to hiIX1erourprogress that Ik:
in the aeation of rap.
RAP, to Max Roach. is oot m\5ic; it'
wolds. Poetl)'. Storytelling of, about am
by the � woo "aeated their own
sourm (beca ) �re were 00 imtru
me in the 000Is, (beca\5e) nobody
gave them imtructions or ta� them"
Max Roach said, "J t like Cll8rtie