Max Roach was a big hero to us kids at the time. He had that regalness about him. But at the same time, if you got the chance to meet him in person, you had to understand the way this regalness met with the explosion and precision of his drumming. Whenever he would be playing somewhere in New York I would go and check him out. I had a chance to meet him and I basically said to him, if you're ever looking for a new trumpet player, think about me. And about a year later [in 1967], I got the call. That started a relationship that stretched until his passing [in 2007].
Max said he wanted to do a kind of suite based on James Weldon Johnson's book of negro spirituals. At the same time, my son's mother - we were dating at the time - had a small storefront living space in the eastern part of Amsterdam... When I got to Amsterdam I sat down to create it, and I think it took me about two or three months. Then I went back to New York and got the music printed up, and then off to [the 1971] Montreux [Jazz Festival] we went.
That's kind of hard! My first trumpet hero was Charlie Shavers off of Norman Granz's Jazz At The Philharmonic - the originals. My folks had those on vinyl. They would be worth a fortune now. I can picture that booklet of 78s. Charlie Shavers was featured on some of them.
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