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Percussion Bitter Sweet
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0011105012225
Label: Grp Records
Manufacturer: Grp Records
MPN: 122
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Grp Records
Release Date: February 16, 1993
Studio: Grp Records
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Editorial Review:
Percussion Bitter Sweet is the most compelling, varied, dynamic snapshot of Max Roach's post-Clifford Brown ensembles. It features the doomed young genius Booker Little on trumpet, the innovative Eric Dolphy on alto and bass clarinet, Clifford Jordan on tenor, Julian Priester on trombone, Mal Waldron on piano and Art Davis on bass. Roach is never content just to mark time. Instead, his drums essay complex metric and polyrhythmic devices, while suggesting keyboard-like counterpoint and melodic motifs, as Davis goads him on with stately walking bass lines. But what makes Percussion Bitter Sweet such a rich, enduring recital is the drummer's colorful use of Afro-Cuban percussion and voice as a powerful multicultural subtext, celebrating the struggles and triumphs of Africans and African Americans (circa 1960) from Harlem (the celebratory "Garvey's Ghost") to Capetown ("Man from South Africa"). Little's darting filigree on the hard-swinging "Mama" is indicative of his breakthroughs in harmony and phrasing, while Dolphy's glorious, airborne flute, fulminating bass clarinet, and torchy, enraged alto enliven the waltzing "Tender Warriors" and the sardonic "Mendacity." On the latter, vocalist Abbey Lincoln's sassy, theatrical phrasing drips bluesy sarcasm in her spanking of a hypocritical racist establishment, setting the stage for Roach's furious, ritualistic rhythmic exorcism. Inspiring stuff. --Chip Stern
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - classic
Everyone who knows jazz recoginizes Max Roach as a great drummer, but he never gets his due as a composer. Where some of the be-bop pioneers kept doing rehashes, Max did some writting that puts him right up there with Charles Mingus or Don Ellis.
Here, Max decided to explore obtose chord changes a'la Eric Dolphy. Dolphy actually plays on this, which shows you how in touch Roach was with the cutting edge of early 60s jazz. It is also probably no accident this wound up on ABC Impulse, ... Read More
Rating: - Jazz with a social conscience
Step into the political/musical world of master drummer with "Percussion Bitter Sweet." This is jazz charged with a social conscience, as immediately evidence by some of the titles, such as "Garvey's Ghost." While albums with overt political motivation can sometimes fizzle musically, this is assuredly not the case with "Percussion Bitter Sweet," which uses superb jazz music to enhance the sense of urgency that characterized the '60s civil rights movement.
Besides, ... Read More
Rating: - Inventive Jazz
This is an intense album. Max Roach really shines, taking the soundscape of the drum set to another level.
Using this album to voice his social and political concerns, Roach chose top of the line musicians to convey his message, including the exhuberant and masterful Eric Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet, and flute.
Influenced by, but not flat out Latin jazz, Roach stirs up a blend of sound that is completely original, bordering on the mystical.
Dolphy indulges in one of his best ... Read More
Rating: - A MUST HAVE album if you like afro-cuban influenced jazz!!!
This is the afro-cuban influenced jazz sound I've been searching for for years!! (NO exaggeration). Too much of contemporary latin influenced jazz seems somehow either too salsa oriented or too mellow lounge sounding, somehow lacking a real jazz sound. But this recording has a terrific hard bop jazz sound backed with outstanding afro-cuban percussion. This is truely one of the COOLEST jazz albums I've ever heard - I only wish they were making latin influenced jazz this great today! If you like Buena ... Read More
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