“Maxology” (“Little Sis”) – Max Roach Quintet (1949)

What I believe to be the first Max Roach Quintet record on a very early Prestige label release from 1949 featuring Kenny Dorham and James Moody.

After playing on many of the seminal bebop records of the mid to late 40s (with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Bud Powell), on this record, Max Roach fronts his own band. Though curiously later Prestige pressings of this title were attributed to “The James Moody Quintet” instead.

Recorded in Studio Technisonor, Paris, France on May 15, 1949.
Released as Prestige 702.
Found in the 78 crates at the back of Bob’s Blues and Jazz Mart in Chicago, Illinois in January, 2023.

Credits
Kenny Dorham – trumpet
James Moody – tenor sax
Al Haig – piano
Tommy Potter – bass
Max Roach – drums