Drumming icon: Cassius Goens III pays tribute to Max Roach

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 The lineup for Tuesday's show at the Jazz Kitchen looked so good it would have been tempting to go even if the event had been designed as a tribute to — oh, say, Guy Lombardo.  But of course, the honor was more pertinently accorded Max Roach, a founder of modern jazz drumming.

And it was under the direction of one of the reigning masters of the kit in central Indiana: Cassius Goens III. In a rare outing as a bandleader, he had put together a quintet comprising the collegial spirits of Christopher Pitts, Brandon Meeks, Jared Thompson, and Marlin McKay. For several numbers to acknowledge the importance of Abbey Lincoln in Roach's long career, vocalist Akili Ni Mali joined the band onstage.

Goens spoke effusively of the role model that Roach (1924-2007) has been for him. It didn't take long to sense the affinity. Sensitivity to tone color and interlocking rhythmic patterns was notable in "Joy Spring," for example. A classic from the pen of Roach's early partner, short-lived trumpeter Clifford Brown, the performance featured the drummer on brushes. He took the best solo I've heard recently using the brushes, building upon how firmly he supported Meeks' bass solo. A la Max at his best, he sounded like two drummers at work: there was so much dialogue laid out by the generally softer, subtler tools than the usual sticks.

Akili Ni Mali evoked Abbey Lincoln
The set opened with another Brown classic, "Daahoud."  The quintet jelled immediately. Except for one awkward transition later in the long set, there was no faltering. The arrrangements were strong and well-balanced. In the front line, McKay and Thompson took turns backing each other's solos on the fast-paced "Blues Walk." Then they placed some unison phrases behind Pitts' solo display.

The abstract leaping theme of George Russell's "Ezz-thetic" posed no problems for the band. Though I roll my eyes sometimes when a player is too fond of quotation while soloing, I found McKay's reflection of the first phrase of "It Don't Mean a Thing" near the start of his solo just what was needed to ground the interpretation in tradition. And the lush tapestry Goens wove in support of the trumpeter's last chorus or so was remarkably apt — very Max-like, in that the bop master always thought in ensemble turns.

That reminds me: a major critic of enduring value was Whitney Balliett of the New Yorker. While a keen analyst of the Roach style, he took issue with how unwelcoming a player the leader was toward his sidemen: "When Roach takes a solo," Balliett wrote in 1959,  "he is like a non-stop talker who finally forces the group around him into silence while he rattles on and on." The critic at another place even implied that Roach was deficient in swing — a severe charge: why does a Roach solo never make you tap your foot? Balliett mused.

Milestone in jazz album covers
That's one of those "yeah, I see what he means" assessments a listener can sometimes arrive at without ever agreeing. I heard Roach in concert only once, and his virtuosity and sheer imagination captivated me. Based on last night's performance, I can understand Goens' admiration for Roach and the application of the master's innovations to the Ball State professor's personal style. 

But I have to assert here: Goens swung like crazy. His solos were compact and varied as well as forceful. The ensemble gifts Roach shared across his career were carried over impeccably across the tribute bandstand. In Goens' individual exchanges with the rest of the group, the mutual respect was paramount. 

As for the others in the all-star quintet, as soloists they invariably acknowledged the shaping force of whatever tune they were dealing with. When the featured singer put predictable gusto into the standard "I've Got You Under My Skin," Meeks found a way to make his bass solo both original and melodic, not just "playing the changes." All the soloists explored a  distinctive manner for their ideas to flow throughout Roach's "Libra," even as they honored the tricky staccato phrases of the theme. And they picked up the triumphant spirit of the singer in "Freedom Day," a well-chosen example of Roach's bold, timely embrace of the Civil Rights movement, certainly worth bringing forward in Black History Month. 

[Performance photo by Rob Ambrose]




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