Maz Roach Ensemble: Percussion Bitter Sweet.

Drum great Max Roach is tonight`s Jazz Feature Artist. Mr.Roach was always aware of civil rights and was politically aware of the changes in American society but around about 1960 he decided to combine his music with the politics of civil rights and made a statement that he would never play any music that didn`t have social significance. Tonight`s Jazz Feature is his fine album, his first of two for the newly formed Impulse Records. Roach wrote and arranged all six pieces all dedicated to aspects and people involved in the fight for rights and freedom. Along with Roach on drums, Art Davis is on bass, Mal Waldron is on piano and the horns include trumpeter Booker Little, trombonist Julian Priester, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, the great Eric Dolphy on flute, bass clarinet and alto saxophone. Abbey Lincoln is the vocalist on two tracks and two percussionists are added on some tunes, Carlos `Patato` Valdes on conga drum and Carlos `Totico` Eugenio on timbales and percussion. Tonight`s Jazz Feature is dedicated to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and celebrates not only the US holiday but his Birthday Anniversary which was January 15th. Politics coupled with great music by Max Roach and his Ensemble.