Max Roach • Stan Levey - Drummin' The Blues

The art of jazz drumming has come a long way since the day of the bass drum player in the marching bands of ole New Orleans. Today we have come to expect a drummer to be an excellent technician, a well rounded percussionist, capable of improvising as well as any solo instrumentalist in any musical aggregation. It would take a very thick book to discuss the requirements of being a jazz drummer, and even then, it would be necessary to interpret the printed word through skins, sticks, cymbals and mechanical contrivancesin order to express yourself and your feeling for the music.

No doubt about it, drums and drummers are popular subjects; whether you're an avid jazz enthusiast or bandleader, it is always interesting to hear and compare notes on the way different drummers play.

Among my personal favorites are two very good friends — two wonderful guys, each representing the moder idiom in the best possible manner: Max Roach and Stan Levey. When they expressed the desire to do this album, it was may great pleasure to be able to record it. They are the best of friends, great believers in the other's playing, they both display what every good jazz musician strives for — his own distinct musical personality. Care to compare? *Howard Rumsey (liner notes)*

Stan and Max are about as unlikely a pair as you could imagine – both jazz drummers, but one with a cooler, more laidback sound (Levy), the other with a harder, more full-on and bop driven approach (Roach). This set features each drummer alternating track to track – supporting a core group with Bill Perkins on tenor, Conte Candoli on trumpet, and Frank Rosolino on trombone. Given that such a setting is more Levy's territory than Roach's, he actually fits in a bit more with the sound – but even on the Roach tracks, the west coast jazz vibe pervades – so don't expect a super-huge change in the style. Titles include "Breadline Blues", "Facts About Max", "Royal Garden Blues", "The Count's Blues", and "Blues In The Night". *dustygroove.com*

1 - Facts About Max

(Marty Paich)

2 - Milano Blues

(Bob Cooper)

3 - Swingin' The Blues

(Count Basie, Eddie Durham)

4 - Breadline Blues

(Dick Shreve)

5 - Bye Bye Blues

(Lown, Gray, Bennett,Hamm)

6 - Blues In The Night

(H. Arlen, J. Mercer)

7 - Royal Garden Blues

(C. Williams, S.Williams)

8 - The "Count's" Blues

(Conte Candoli)

Conte Candoli (trumpet); Bill Perkins [#1, #3, #6, #8], Bob Cooper [#2, #4, #5, #7] (tenor saxes); Frank Rosolino (trombone); Dick Shreve (piano); Howard Rumsey (bass); Max Roach [#1, #3, #6, #8], Stan Levey [#2, #4, #5, #7] (drums).

#1, #3, #6, #8:

Recorded in Los Angeles, California, March, 1957.

#2, #4, #5, #7:

Recorded at "The Lighthouse", Hermosa Beach, California, March 1957.