''To the Max!'' is a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

by American jazz drummer

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

featuring tracks recorded in 1990 and 1991 and released on the

Enja Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...

label.Max Roach discography
accessed September 25, 2012 The album features Roach with various ensembles and combines live and studio recordings that celebrate Roaches diverse musical output.

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

awarded the album 4½ and its review by Scott Yanow states, "The music, which crosses quite a few boundaries, is consistently fascinating and forms a definitive portrait of the ageless drummer's wide musical interests in the early '90s".Yanow, S
Allmusic Review
accessed September 25, 2012

Track listing

''All compositions by Max Roach except as indicated'' ;Disc one # "Ghost Dance (PT. I)" - 14:50 # "Ghost Dance (PT. II) - 9:32 # "Ghost Dance (PT. III) - 6:19 # "A Quiet Place" - 3:51 # "The Profit" - 3:40 # "Tears" - 6:50 # "Self Portrait" - 4:02 *Recorded at Rev'O Jazz, Paris, on September 15, 1990 (track 7), Clinton Recording Studios, New York on June 15, 1991 (tracks 1 & 3), Master Sound Astoria, New York on June 24, 1991 (tracks 2 & 4) and The Power Station, New York on June 25, 1991 (tracks 5 & 6) ;Disc two # "A Little Booker" - 21:03 # "Street Dance" - 5:21 # "Tricotism" (

Oscar Pettiford Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom. Biography Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United ...

) - 3:17 # "Mwalimu" (

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 ...

) - 16:33 # "Drums Unlimited" - 4:38 *Recorded at Rev'O Jazz, Paris, on September 15, 1990 (track 5), The Marquee at the Tralf, Buffalo, New York on November 30, 1990 (track 3), The Iron Horse, Northampton, Massachusetts on April 29, 1991 (track 4), Master Sound Astoria, New York on June 24, 1991 (track 2) and The Power Station, New York on June 25, 1991 (track 1)

Personnel

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 ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

Cecil Bridgewater Cecil Bridgewater (born October 10, 1942) is an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Bridgewater was born in Urbana, Illinois and studied at the University of Illinois. He and brother Ron formed the Bridgewater Brothers Band in 1969, and in the 197 ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

(tracks: 1-5, 1-6, 2-1, 2-3, 2-4) *

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

(tracks: 1-5, 1-6, 2-1, 2-3, 2-4) *Tyrone Brown -

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

(tracks: 1-5, 1-6, 2-1, 2-3, 2-4) *

George Cables George Andrew Cables (born November 14, 1944) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life Cables was born in New York City, United States. He was initially taught piano by his mother. He then studied at the High School of Performing Ar ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(tracks: 1-1, 1-3) *

Roy Brooks Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early life Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in church. He was a ...

Joe Chambers Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

, Omar Clay, Eli Fountain, Fred King,

Ray Mantilla Raymond Mantilla (June 22, 1934 – March 21, 2020) was an American percussionist. Discography As leader * ''Mantilla'' (Inner City, 1978) * ''Hands of Fire'' (Red, 1984) * ''Synergy'' (Red, 1986) * ''Dark Powers'' (Red, 1988) * ''The Next Step ...

, Francisco Mora, Warren Smith - percussion (tracks: 1-2, 1-4, 2-2) *Diane Monroe, Lesa Terry -

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

(tracks: 1-1, 1-3, 2-1) *Maxine Roach -

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

(tracks: 1-1, 1-3, 2-1) *Eileen Folson -

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

(tracks: 1-1, 1-3, 2-1) *Robbin L. Balfour, Priscilla Baskerville, Ronell Bey, James Gainer, Florence Jackson, Karen Jackson, Lucille J. Jacobsen, Greg Jones, T. Ray Lawrence, John Motley, Christopher Pickens, Sarah Ann Rodgers, Abraham Shelton, Brenda Lee Taub, Thomas Young -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(tracks: 1-1, 1-3)

References

{{Authority control 1992 albums Max Roach albums Enja Records albums