The death was announced yesterday of American drummer Pete La Roca who played and recorded on Blue Note. with Sonny Rollins, Freddy Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Jackie McLean, Art Farmer, Jaki Byard, Johnny Coles and many others - they all benefited from his inspired drumming. He preceded Elvin Jones with Coltrane.
To remind myself of his ability, I dug out Freddie Hubbard's Night of the Cookers - a 2 volume live recording from 1965 with Hubbard and Morgan on trumpets alongside James Spaulding on flute and alto.
La Roca is solid throughout holding it all together whilst the horns are going berserk in the kitchen! He has an extended solo on Volume 2 that further rubber stamps his CV - a greatly underrated drummer who actually took time out to become a lawyer successfully suing a record company for re-releasing his second album as a leader under Chick Corea's name.
Sadly missed.
Lance.
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