Max Roach Drums Unlimited
(Ben Shapiro Producer)

The challenge in producing a music documentary is getting that balance between music and talk, musical enjoyment and musical education. To my ear, too many music documentaries and some of the weekly music shows leave listeners hungry for the music - they never get their musical fill.

I like this documentary. Even though the talk to music ratio is about equal, Producer Ben Shapiro has found a way to give us the history, context, personality and innovations behind one of music's top players and thinkers without sacrificing a strong musical presence.

Host Kenny Washington is clearly a Max Roach fan, but hosts this program without fawn. Equally impressive, Mr. Washington is also a drummer with an ability to avoid drum-speak when introducing and exalting Roach's innovations.

If I had known in advance that Mr. Washington sings along with the music, to emphasize the innovative character of his approach to rhythm or melody, I probably would have diminished my expectations. But, Washington's brief sing-alongs are a great bit, and, in a sense, better than words as a way to underscore and highlight Max Roach's inventions and musical contributions.

I'd suggest running this program after your weekday news block at 7 or 8 pm. It's perfect for the weekend afternoons and evenings, and would especially add hope to a Sunday evening in anticipation of a dreaded Monday morning.

Max Roach Drums Unlimited does break the unofficial "length-of-drum-solo" rule near the top of the show (I'm not sure if you're allowed more than 15 seconds...), and there's a bleeped S-word at 58:03 in...fyi.

This is a wonderful hour of radio. I highly recommend it to stations for broadcast anytime.

It's an elegant, thoughtful, and informative piece on the incredible contributions of drummer Max Roach. And it just made me smile a lot. You can't help yourself when you hear Roach talking about his passion for music, for life.... and when you hear the story about his big break filling in for Duke Ellington's drummer, his anecdotes about living with Miles Davis, their stories about soaking up the jazz life together in New York when they were both basically teenagers still. It's an incredible story about creative energy and innovation, both intimate and broad. And the music never stops; it's an exciting, seamless mix. And, if you're like me and you don't know enough about Roach and his contemporaries and the invention of modern jazz, then you will learn so much, and come away feeling fulfilled and enlightened. Public radio listeners will love this. It would work in a news/ culture slot, or during a jazz or music show too.