Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes

Jazz on Film

This new documentary is a profound and expansive portrait of legendary jazz drummer, composer, bandleader, and activist Max Roach. The Drum Also Waltzes traces the musical innovations, personal struggles, and reinventions over Roach’s remarkably diverse seven-decade career. His story unfolds through a wealth of performance footage, photographs, interviews with Roach himself, and contributions from Abdullah Ibrahim, Quincy Jones, Abbey Lincoln, Sonny Rollins, Greg Tate, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, among others.


Access to Films in Brown Auditorium Theater
While the entry from Main Street into the Law Building is under construction, park in the Beck Building garage (1144 Binz Street) and take the Wilson Tunnel to the theater. Construction does not affect access to Lynn Wyatt Theater in the Kinder Building. Campus Map


The MFAH film department is supported by Tenaris; The June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation; the Vaughn Foundation; The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea; Nina and Michael Zilkha; Franci Neely; Carrin Patman and Jim Derrick; Ms. Laurence Unger; L'Alliance Française de Houston; and ILEX Foundation.

Generous support has been provided by Gerry Aitken, Richard Levy and Dinah Chetrit, and Anne Tucker and Robert Morris.

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes

Directed by Samuel Pollard and Ben Shapiro
(USA, 2023, 82 minutes, in English)
Brown Auditorium Theater, Digital