Max Roach 100
The Joyce Theater joins the nationwide centennial celebration of the iconic drummer, composer, and activist Max Roach with an evening of commissioned works made in tribute to this legendary Jazz pioneer. Curated by Richard Colton, this New York Times Critic’s Pick brings Joyce artists together in conversation with Roach’s lasting legacy set to recordings of the late musician performing his greatest works.
The program is comprised of Ayodele Casel’s new solo dance performance Freedom… In Progress, adding her singular percussive improvisation to the free jazz duet by Max Roach and fellow jazz pioneer pianist Cecil Taylor. creating a trio, In The Dream/It’s Time, Roach’s band joins a recording of Martin Luther King Jr. in an aspirational and urgent conversation, now amplified by the street dance storytelling of Rennie Harris’s piece Jim Has Crowed. Characterized by its Afro-Cuban percussion, the 1961 album Percussion Bitter Sweet becomes the soundscape for choreographer Ronald K. Brown and Arcell Cabuag’s latest work for dancers from the Cuba-based Malpaso Dance Company and Brown’s own EVIDENCE, A Dance Company. The program opens with Max Roach Live by Kit Fitzgerald, a short film by video artist Kit Fitzgerald with footage from her decade-long collaboration with Roach, highlighting Roach's influence across artistic disciplines.
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Lead Production Sponsors: Ann & George Colony
Presenting Sponsors: Virginia & Timothy Millhiser
Key support for Joyce Theater Production’s projects is generously provided by the Monica B. Voldstad Fund for New Work.
Additional creation support has been generously provided by:
Anonymous, Deborah & Charles Adelman, Carol & Tony Friscia, Emi Gittleman, Olivia Howard & Greg Griffith, David Hughes, Jr., Christopher Jones & Deborah McAlister, Jane Kendall, Dana & Michael Robinson, and Susan Sillins