ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. - Jazz great Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra are performing at Elizabeth City State University on Wednesday in honor of famous drummer and Pasquotank County native, Max Roach.
"A Tribute to Max Roach" is scheduled for 7 p.m. January 24 at Mickey L. Burnim Fine Arts Center on campus.
It comes as the community is celebrating 100 years since Roach was born January 10, 1924 in Pasquotank County. Roach would go on to become a world-famous Jazz drummer and composer, working with legends like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
Roach died in 2007.
January 10 of this year, Elizabeth City unveiled a new mural of Roach's likeness on Water Street. It was painted by North Carolina artist Scott Nurkin and added to the North Carolina Musicians Mural Trail, which features other famed musicians from the Tar Heel state, like Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane.
"As a music teacher and college professor who’s involved in Jazz studies, I have an obligation to honor these men, provide the students with the history and the community itself, the music," said Douglas Jackson, a Professor of Music at ECSU.
Jackson is helping organize the celebration of Roach on campus, from Wednesday's concert to a three-day Max Roach Centennial Celebration and Music Festival from April 11-13.
For ticket information to see the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis pay tribute to Roach, click HERE.
