MAX ROACH 100 Comes to the Joyce in April

 The Joyce Theater Foundation will welcome a collective of talented artists to celebrate the legacy and music of jazz legend Max Roach in Max Roach 100. Pairing each artist and company’s unique style with the immortal recordings of Roach’s everlasting music, The Joyce Theater Production opens April 2 with The Joyce Theater Foundation’s Annual Gala honoring Robert Musiker & The Family of Max Roach.

The engagement’s press opening is slated for April 3 and runs through April 7. Tickets, ranging in price from $12-$72 (including fees), can be purchased at www.Joyce.org, or by calling JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street.For more information, please visit www.Joyce.org. 

Joining the nationwide centennial celebration of iconic drummer, composer, and activist Max Roach, The Joyce Theater makes its contribution to the cultural conversation with Max Roach 100. An evening of commissioned works, The Joyce Theater Production pays tribute to the legendary jazz pioneer with a special program curated by Richard Colton. Artists and companies familiar to Joyce audiences will come together in conversation with Roach’s legacy and recordings of the late musician performing his greatest works. Characterized by its Afro-Cuban percussion, the 1961 album Percussion Bitter Sweetbecomes the soundscape for choreographers Ronald K. Brown and Arcell Cabuag’s latest work, Tender Warriors, for dancers from Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company and Brown’s own EVIDENCE, A Dance Company. In The Dream/It’s Time, Roach’s band joins a recording of Martin Luther King Jr. in an aspirational and urgent conversation, now amplified by the streetdance storytelling of Rennie Harris Puremovement. Tap artist Ayodele Casel completes the celebratory evening, taking on an explosively theatrical solo set to a series of duets between Roach and fellow jazz pioneer, pianist Cecil Taylor. The program opens with a new film by pioneering video artist Kit Fitzgerald featuring archival footage of Max Roach.