Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes

1h 23m • Documentary, Music • 2023

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes is the story of a musician whose far-reaching ambitions were inspired and challenged by the inequities of the society around him. His stunningly diverse seven-decade career marked him as one of the great musical artists of the 20th century–and a pioneering cultural activist–at times when the nation was steeped in racism. The film follows Roach across a rich and complicated life, days of now-legendary achievement and also deep personal struggle, and the price he paid for his outspoken views. His was an epic musical journey: from the revolutionary Jazz of the 1940s to the Civil Rights years; through experiments in hip hop, multi-media works and beyond.