A Record Store Day release treat for adventurous listeners…
Max Roach – Deeds, Not Words – Riverside Records/ Craft Recordings # CR 00816 – 43:27 – 180 gm vinyl – Mono – 1958 – ****
(Max Roach – drums; Booker Little – trumpet; George Coleman – tenor sax – Ray Draper – tuba – Art Davis – bass)
For the upcoming Record Store Day event (Black Friday, November 29), the boutique vinyl label, Craft Recordings, in a limited original mono edition, brings back Max Roach’s multiple jazz genre classic, Deeds, Not Words. Recorded in 1958, as Max had moved on from his more famous group that included Clifford Brown and Sonny Rollins. Craft goes “all-in” for an audiophile upgrade, as the lacquers were cut from the original master tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearant Audio.
The results are stunning and greatly help the bottom end of the sound stage, utilizing Roach’s use of the teenage, Roy Draper, on tuba. It’s a rare occasion to hear the mainline usage of the tuba as a lead melody instrument. Blending Draper with master bassist, Art Davis (then 24 years old), gives Max the chance to vary his playing , giving him more freedom on his extended drum solos, where his snare drum is largely featured.
Max Roach, like Miles Davis, was a restless musician, always with an eye out for going in new directions. On this album, influences range from bop, to post bop, and entering free jazz territory.
On trumpet, the tragically short lived, Booker Little, is aboard. Little had recently just turned 20, when this recording was made, and passed away just three years later from uremia, having only recorded five albums as a leader.
Tenor saxist, George Coleman (thankfully, still with us at age 89), helps complete the front line horns, still a youngster, himself, then only 23. (As you can see, Max loved to help bring out young talent).
This original issue is comprised of seven tracks. Two are standards, plus one each from Draper and Little, as well as a near four minute drum solo from Max (“Conversation”). The title track and “Jodie’s Cha-Cha” were written by Spike Lee’s father, Bill Lee, the noted bassist and film scorer.
Max makes use of Afro Latin rhythms on “Filide,” while Roy Draper gets solo time, with his bellowing tuba. The title track is the rare ballad here, while there is considerable fireworks elsewhere, especially with Little’s trumpet burning on “Jodie’s Cha-Cha.” The standard, “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” after a sonorous opening with the horns blending, led by George Coleman, who later trades solos with Booker, all the while spurred on by Max, in a heavily post bop reading.
Jazz vinyl fans with “open ears” will find lots to like here, and the upgraded sonics make this a nice find, provided you get to your local record shop early in the day on Black Friday.
—Jeff Krow
Max Roach – Deeds, Not Words
Tracklist:
Side 1: You Stepped Out of a Dream, Filide, It’s You or No One
Side 2: Jodie’s Cha-Cha, Deeds, Not Words, Larry-Larue, Conversation
