QuoteCivil Rights

"I will never again play anything that does not have social…" — Max Roach

c. 1961(Approximate date)· Max Roach (speaker)

“I will never again play anything that does not have social significance. We American jazz musicians of African descent have proved beyond all doubt that we're master musicians of our instruments. Now what we have to do is employ our skill to tell the dramatic story of our people and what we've been through.”
Speaker
Max Roach
Occasion
Down Beat interview, 1961 (around We Insist! Freedom Now Suite)

Max Roach's public commitment, around his landmark civil-rights album, to make only socially engaged music.

Sources & citations

  1. 1.democracynow.orgwebsite
  2. 2.harlem-is.orgwebsite
"I will never again play anything that does not have social…" — Max Roach · We've Been Protesting