''It's Christmas Again'' is an album by the American jazz drummer
Max Roach, recorded in 1984 for the Italian
Soul Note
Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.
History
Black S ...
label.
Max Roach discography
accessed May 25, 2011
Critical reception
The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref>
Biography
Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles.
Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...
stated: "''It's Christmas Again'' is a project that for many did not work, but no matter how you slice it, an intriguing aside to Roach's discography. As he often mixed words with jazz, this is less ambitious than previous works, but could be looked upon as more than a little ambiguous, and certainly a cynical view of a time of the year that should be joyous, but for many is difficult."[Scott Yano]
"Max Roach ''It's Christmas Again''"
AllMusic, accessed May 25, 2011 '' The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' commented on the albums links with other material from around the same time: "anyone familiar with this period or who takes the time to listen to these Soul Notes in a structured way will find a great deal of cross-fertilization going on".
Track listing
:''All compositions by Max Roach''
# "It's Christmas Again" – 20:41
# "Christina" – 21:12
Personnel
* Max Roach – drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
, keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
, percussion, vibraphone, voice
* Cecil Bridgewater – trumpet
* Tony Scott – clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
(track 2)
* Lee Konitz
Leon Konitz (October 13, 1927 – April 15, 2020) was an American composer and alto saxophonist.
He performed successfully in a wide range of jazz styles, including bebop, cool jazz, and avant-garde jazz. Konitz's association with the cool jazz ...
– alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
(track 2)
* Odean Pope
Odean Pope (born October 24, 1938) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Biography
Pope was raised in Philadelphia, where he learned from Ray Bryant while young. Early in his career, at Philadelphia's Uptown Theater, Pope played behind a numbe ...
– tenor saxophone, voice
* Tomaso Lama – guitar (track 2)
* Tyrone Brown – electric bass guitar
References
{{Authority control
Black Saint/Soul Note albums
Max Roach albums
1987 albums