The Kennedy Center celebrated Max Roach’s centennial with a presentation of “We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.” Roach, the drummer, composer, pioneer of bebop, and civil rights activist had a strong voice against racial injustice. This suite has been considered a work that spoke to many concerns from African Americans.
Artists who participated in the performance were vocalist Cassandra Wilson and poets Sonia Sanchez and Saul Williams.
Music director and drummer Nasheet Waits is joined by musicians saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, alto saxophonist Jordan Young, bassist Rashaan Carter, trumpeter Josh Evans, percussionist Melvis Santa, and pianist David Virelles.
This production was originally produced by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey, with the support of TD Bank, Dodge Poetry, and the Max Roach estate.
The album version of “We Insist!” consisted of the band playing, with vocalist Abbey Lincoln singing the lyrics intently, delivering the message of injustice.
For the Kennedy Center production, poets Williams and Sanchez were added and backed by the band. They each had two poems that expanded the list of those seeking justice.
Williams shouted about freeing Indigenous lands and its people. When he said free Palestine, the audience erupted.
Sanchez, who recently turned 90, delivered her verses in her well-known style “haiku.” She would insert a guttural laugh and howl what sounded like evil from the oppressor, with those who were oppressed howling in anguish.
Sanchez spoke about working with Roach, which tested her spontaneity. He told her that he was tired of doing the same thing over again in the same way, but she shared her gratitude.
“Thank you, Max. You made me go to another level,” she told the Kennedy Center audience.
The delivery style of both Williams and Sanchez was a masterclass in spoken word.
The band was stunning. Each musician played with the same tone of protest music, sometimes sounding frenetic. Special recognition goes to the brass section with Coltrane, Evans, and Young, who were tight and powerful. They reinforced the messages in “We Insist!” Percussionist Santa gave audiences the rhythms of the Motherland that give Black people the energy to keep going.
Howard University professor Greg Carr, said on his X: “Melvis Santa’s verbal libation was a lesson in Africana.”
A packed Kennedy Center Concert Hall saw a production that included black-and-white photos of Roach, Lincoln, and Brown, who were key architects of the “We Insist!” legacy.
Before the performances began, the audience saw an empty state with a spotlight to the left of the stage shining, a single cymbal on its stand and an empty drummer stool, which is also called a throne. Roach’s presence was felt as the ensemble and admirers paid respect to a reminder that there was still work to be done.
Was the program recorded?