Bill Cosby to get in some licks on drums at jazz festival

Bill Cosby quips that he gave up his dreams of becoming a professional jazz drummer and turned to comedy after seeing how easily the pioneer bebop drummer Max Roach handled rhythmically complex tunes that he struggled to get through.

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Jazz Master Max Roach Dies at 83

By his 30th birthday, Max Roach was already considered the greatest jazz drummer ever by his peers. By the time he died this week, the 83-year-old master percussionist was known worldwide as much more: innovator, activist, teacher, genius.

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Legendary jazz drummer Max Roach was an innovator to the end. As a young musician, he helped define new movements in jazz: later in life, he experimented with hip-hop and video artists, constantly exploring and moving forward with his art.

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Max Roach, who died on Wednesday aged 83, was one of the most creative and influential percussionists in the history of jazz.

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Max Roach, the master percussionist, died late Wednesday in a Manhattan hospital after a long illness. He was 83. Roach got his first musical break at age 16, filling in when Duke Ellington's drummer fell ill in 1940. Those three nights spawned a legendary career.

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Max Roach, the jazz drummer, composer, bandleader and educator whose approach to rhythm had a profound effect on music in the second half of the 20th century, died of an unspecified illness at his home in New York last night. He was 83 years old.

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