In the early 1980s, he began presenting entire concerts solo, proving that this multi-percussion instrument, in the hands of such a great master, could fulfill the demands of solo performance and be entirely satisfying to an audience. He created memorable compositions in these solo concerts; a solo record was released by Bay State, a
Japanese label, just about impossible to obtain. One of these solo concerts is available on video, which also includes a filming of a recording date for "Chattahoochee Red," featuring his working quartet,
Odean Pope, Cecil Bridgewater and
Calvin Hill.
He embarked on a series of duet recordings. Departing from the style of presentation he was best known for, most of the music on these recordings is free improvisation, created with the avant-garde musicians
Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, Abdullah Ibrahim and
Connie Crothers. He created duets with other performers: a recorded duet with the oration by
Martin Luther King, "
I Have a Dream"; a duet with video artist
Kit Fitzgerald, who improvised video imagery while Roach spontaneously created the music; a classic duet with his life-long friend and associate
Dizzy Gillespie; a duet concert recording with
Mal Waldron.
He wrote music for theater, such as plays written by
Sam Shepard, presented at
La Mama E.T.C. in
New York City.
He found new contexts for presentation, creating unique musical ensembles. One of these groups was "The Double Quartet." It featured his regular performing quartet, with personnel as above, except Tyrone Brown replacing Hill; this quartet joined with "The Uptown String Quartet," led by his daughter Maxine Roach, featuring Diane Monroe, Lesa Terry and
Eileen Folson.
Another ensemble was the "So What Brass Quintet," a group comprising five brass instrumentalists and Roach, no chordal instrument, no bass player. Much of the performance consisted of drums and horn duets. The ensemble consisted of two trumpets, trombone, French horn and tuba. Musicians included Cecil Bridgewater, Frank Gordon, Eddie Henderson,
Steve Turre, Delfeayo Marsalis, Robert Stewart, Tony Underwood, Marshall Sealy, and Mark Taylor.
Roach presented his music with
orchestras and
gospel choruses. He performed a concerto with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra. He wrote for and performed with the Walter White gospel choir and the John Motley Singers. Roach performed with dancers: the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Dianne McIntyre Dance Company, the
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.
Roach surprised his fans by performing in a
hip hop concert, featuring the artist-
rapper Fab Five Freddy and the
New York Break Dancers. He expressed the insight that there was a strong kinship between the outpouring of expression of these young black artists and the art he had pursued all his life.
Not content to expand on the musical territory he had already become known for, Roach spent the decades of the 1980s and
1990s continually finding
new forms of musical expression and presentation. During all these years, while he ventured into new territory during a lifetime of innovation, he kept his contact with his musical point of origin. He performed with the Beijing Trio, with pianist Jon Jang and erhu player Jeibing Chen. His last recording,
Friendship, was with trumpet master
Clark Terry, the two long-standing friends in duet and quartet. His last performance was at the 50th anniversary celebration of the original Massey Hall concert, in Toronto, where he performed solo on the hi-hat.
In
1994, Roach also appeared on
Rush drummer Neil Peart's Burning For Buddy performing "The Drum Also Waltzes", Part 1 and 2 on
Volume 1 of the
Volume 2 series during the 1994 All-Star recording sessions.
