Billboard : 05/12/1958
Three stars

Roach sounds younger and younger with every effort. This is a great package by the master of polyrhythms with support from four capable Chicago artists. E. Baker is heard on piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; George Coleman, tenor and talented 19-year-old Booker Little is featured on trumpet. Roach’s fans will go for this. Selections include Stella by Starlight, My Old Flame and a swingin’ medium tempo run of Stompin’ at the Savoy.

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Cashbox : 05/31/1958

The musicians have a ball as they swing six items. Max Roach’s drum work is the key here with his unmistakable beat and expert phrasing. The rest of the group consists of Chicago jazzmen Eddie Baker (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), George Coleman (tenor) and Booker Little (trumpet). The highly regarded drummer keeps the group swinging throughout. One fine number is an original dubbed Shirley. Worthy issue.

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High Fidelity
John S. Wilson : July 1958

This is a serviceable introduction to two young musicians of obvious potential — Booker Little, a nineteen-year-old trumpet player who can roar through a fast series of figures with amazing aplomb and produce a fat, assertive tone on a ballad; and George Coleman who plays long, flowing, warm-toned lines on tenor saxophone. In absolute terms, however, the disc is simply one more demonstration of hard bop calisthenics.

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Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN)
Polly Cochran : 06/15/1958

Jazz leads off the list, with distinguished drummer Max Roach acting as mentor. EmArcy’s Max Roach Plus Four on the Chicago Scene finds the percussionist encouraging 19-year-old trumpeter Booker Little; tenor man George Coleman, 23; bassist Bob Cranshaw, 22, and pianist Eddie Baker, 30.

Roach, by his own admission, is concerned with the delicate assisting of soloists. He’s interested in getting more out of the musicians themselves by employing dynamics, tension and release to enliven the rhythm sound and feeling.

“It’s a matter of not being overbearing and overpowering, and yet remaining stimulating,” he says.

In this session, four younger men are carried along, into and by his creative drive. The trumpeter receives special attention in the solo lineup, but it’s always Max leading the way.

The LP includes three standards and three originals, each of the latter contributed by various of the “plus four” and paying tribute to their leader by writing in expansive drum solos.

The new numbers are Sporty, by Lee; Shirley, by Coleman, and a lively blues, Memo: To Maurice, by Baker. My Old Flame, Stella by Starlight and Stompin’ at the Savoy make up the evergreens.

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New Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, PA)
Harold L. Keith : 05/31/1958
Four stars

Trumpeter Booker Little’s fanciful jaunts into the realm of the esoteric, spurred by his own youthful exuberance and some pulsating rhythm, has helped to propel Max Roach’s latest offering into the four-star category.

The album is EmArcy release MG 36132 and presents Max in company with pianist Ed Baker, bassist Bob Cranshaw, tenor saxman George Coleman, and Booker. The latter musician is but a mere 19 years of age and much promise is embodied in his style which could be likened to that of the Bostonian, Tommy Ball.

Booker’s phrasing is on a syncopated kick and, therefore, dependent on tongue work for fluidity of expression. Coleman is a delight on tenor. Like Booker, George hails from Manassas High School in Memphis, Tenn. We will not comment on the playing of Mr. Roach as superlatives aimed in his direction are inadequate at best.

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Pasadena Independent Star-News (Pasadena, CA)
Price Fergusson : 09/28/1958

Max Roach, for 15 years a significant and influential figure in the world of jazz and Chicago jazz in particular—is a musician with a full understanding of the limitations and the scope of his chosen instrument. As a jazz drummer he says that one of the prime functions of the drums is to serve as an accompanying instrument. He doesn’t smother the horns, nor does he say nothing by a too delicate touch. Eddie Baker, piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; George Coleman, tenor, and Booker Little, trumpet, join Max Roach in Stompin’ at the Savoy, among the old ones in this album, together with five other memorable excursions into real jazz.

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Toronto Star (Toronto, ON)
Roger Feather : 08/23/1958
Two stars

Roach is one of the top drummers in jazz and over the years he has exerted a great influence as a performer and leader. He has an amazing, facile technique, rare logic in solos and a tremendous, driving concept of rhythm. His dynamic personality has sparked some wonderful groups but unfortunately this is not one of them.

The musicians here are young, inexperienced and not in Roach’s league. While it is commendable for established musicians to work with the younger men the result here is not satisfying. Nineteen year-old Little has a dull tone and faulty intonation. He solos through My Old Flame with only slight imagination. Coleman uses Stompin’ At The Savoy to exhibit his ability which is only a bit better than Little’s. Baker contributes some adequate solos and Cranshaw is generally steady.

On the up-tempo Shirley the horns play long, staccato lines without any real conclusions and Max is exact and swinging but without his usual fire. On Memo: To Maurice Roach has a good extended solo but here, as throughout, he lacks much of his exceptional drive.

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Venice Evening Vanguard (Venice, CA)
C.M. Weisenberg : 07/02/1958

There is no doubt about the fact that Max Roach stands in the magic circle of “best drummers” in American jazz. He played with several traditional groups before making his reputation in Bop and Modern jazz with such people as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter.

His latest album, sub-titled “on the Chicago Scene,” features some rather young men who are unknowns by comparison with their leader. The one word that always comes to mind when I hear the name Max Roach is drive because he is one of the hardest driving jazz drummers currently playing. Although George Coleman on tenor saxophone and Booker Little on trumpet lack the maturity and sureness of their leader, the group presents an enjoyable album with some very commendable attributes.

The entire album contains only six tunes (Shirley, My Old Flame, Sporty, Stella by Starlight, Stompin’ at the Savoy and Memo: to Maurice) giving the musicians ample opportunity to develop their ideas. It is a real pleasure to see advantage taken of the long play album; I only wish more of the larger companies would realize that putting 12 numbers in one album ignores the assets of long play records. Roach’s drum solos are not in line with his best work but that still makes them fairly good. He is at his best here when supporting the group. Little’s trumpet work on My Old Flame hints at a bright future.

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White Plains Reporter Dispatch (White Plains, NY)
Ted Riedeburg : 09/17/1958

Max Roach Plus Four On The Chicago Scene (EmArcy MG-36132) is a uniformly dreary rehash of what everybody is trying to do in the field of hard bop. Roach’s drumming is frequently intrusive; and Booker Little, trumpet, Eddie Baker piano, and George Coleman, tenor sax, seem to be playing in an every-man-for-himself vacuum which completely negates any possibility of communication with the listener who hopes to hear some semblance of orderly development of theme when it is re-worked by the soloist.

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Down Beat : 08/07/1958
Martin Williams : 2 stars

Three of the four are in their early 20s; Baker is 30. The record has a lot of emotion — some of which is in the music, some just in the musicians. The soloists in general lack conception and discipline. Assuming that these men are to be recorded, is setting up a long blowing session almost for them alone like this one the best way to have done it?

Little would be a striking musician if he had his horn and ideas under more control. Coleman uses motifs from several tenor schools in a rather unsettled manner, except on Stella, where he shows direction and makes an interesting alliance between the hard and the cool, (in a sense suggesting Lucky Thompson). Baker’s harmonically imaginative comping during the beginning of that piece make it all the more unfortunate that his solos are usually mannered and fragmentary. (It is also a shame that Stella has a rather silly opening in free tempo.)

I wonder if it isn’t a better idea to work on a basic approach before one reaches for virtuosity of fingers and chops – or at least for some kind of balance between the two. Cranshaw’s bass has a directness, variety, and firmness that is professional: it doesn’t seem that he was trying to dazzle anyone.

Roach has a good solo on Sporty, by the way, with structure and development that fits the context.

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Liner Notes by Unknown

Max Roach is more than one drummer in a world of rhythm. He is a significant figure in the history of jazz in America. For more than 15 years, Roach has been a vitally influential figure in jazz. Hundreds of jazz musicians have found inspiration in Roach, from a slight nuance readily adopted to the entire musical philosophy he taught by example.

Roach is a warm human being and a master of his instrument. Both qualities contribute to his constant popularity. He is dedicated to jazz, to its development and accomplishment. He is a splendid spokesman for jazz.

It is his dedication that lead him to define the role he must play, as a drummer, in jazz. He told Down Beat’s Don Gold in March, 1957 the role he feels the drums should play.

“One of the prime functions of the drums is to serve as an accompanying instrument,” he said. “This can be developed by listening to everything around you and by fitting yourself in without being smothered or smothering others.

“It’s difficult to do,” he added, “due to the timbre of the instrument. You can’t help smothering the horns unless you’re very careful. And if you’re too delicate, you can’t say anything. You need proper balance and respect. It takes a good drummer to get a lot out of the instrument. Some guys have fabulous drum setups, but don’t get anything out of them.

“You can play lyrically by phrasing and dynamics,” he instructed. “You set up lyrical patterns in rhythm which give indications of the structure of the song you’re playing.

“I think it’s important for the drummer to know what’s going on around him-harmonically and melodically. Our better musicians are composers, too. They know harmony and melody. And, of course, drummers should, too. The better drummers, like Kenny Clarke, do. To me, the most important thing is the music and the musician and the instrument are subservient to it. And the only way to accomplish this is to study constantly,” he concluded.

It is this constant study-including considerable onstand study -combined with a respect for his fellow jazzmen-that has made Roach one of the major figures in modern jazz. The sounds on this album, guided by Roach’s astute hands, are evidence of his potent influence.

Here, Roach is working closely with four Chicago jazzmen. Two of them were born in the Chicago area and have spent their lives there. Two came to Chicago in recent years from Memphis, Tennessee.

Eddie Baker, 30, is one of the midwest’s most reliable pianists. He studied at the American Conservatory of Music and with trombonist-composer-teacher Bill Russo. He has recorded with a variety of groups and has composed for several recording dates. He has worked with Miles Davis, Sonny Stitt, Roy Eldridge, and Russo and has served as accompanist for Billie Holiday, Helen Merrill, and Lucy Reed. Currently, he’s teaching jazz piano and working in the Chicago area. He composed the blues, Memo: To Maurice, specifically for this album. It’s dedicated to Maurice Larry, the manager of Swingland, the prominent Chicago jazz club where much of the preparation for this LP was done.

According to Baker, working with Roach is an enlightening experience.

“I’m always completely relaxed when I play with Max,” he has said. “He always is so well-organized. You always feel the pulse. He gives you a lot to work with rhythmically.”

Completing the rhythm section is bassist Bob Cranshaw, a 22-year-old musician from Evanston, Ill. He studied at Bradley and Roosevelt universities before embarking on a career in jazz. Between jobs he continues to foster an interest in musical therapy by working in Chicago area hospitals. He has worked with Sonny Stitt and several local groups. Currently, he’s a member of Ed Higgins trio.

According to Cranshaw, “Max is great. He’s fine to work with. He keeps everyone at ease. During the session, for example, he dropped a stick and had to pick it up by himself. His solo went smoothly, however, and you’d never know anything happened. He keeps me so busy listening to him that there are a few times when I almost get lost.”

With Roach-Baker-Cranshaw anchoring the rhythm, the front line would have to be manned by able soloists. In this case, they are more than “promising” horn men. Both have a good deal to say in the modern jazz idiom. This LP should serve to initiate long careers in the field of recorded jazz for both of them.

George Coleman, tenor, and Booker Little, trumpet, are the delegates from Memphis.

Coleman, 23, attended Manassas high school in Memphis and was a member of the school band. After his high school days, he studied with a private teacher. In March, 1957, he came to Chicago. Soon, his reputation as a fluent reed man impressed many local musicians and fans and his opportunity to work widened. Coleman contributed an original chart for this date, Shirley.

Trumpeter Booker Little, just 19, studied music during his high school years and was a member of the high school band, too. His sister, Vera Little, is a successful opera singer. Little has been in Chicago for three years, spending much of that time in intensive study at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. He continues to study at the Chicago Conservatory as this LP is released.

To complete the Chicago Scene, the third original included here, Sporty, was contributed by a fine Chicago bassist, Bill Lee.

This, then, is a Max Roach-guided date. Without smothering or being smothered, he manages to inject enormous rhythmic vitality into every track on this LP. His solos are always appropriate. As Coleman commented, “when Max solos you can hear the song.”

It is characteristic of Roach that he presented this opportunity to four deserving Chicago jazzmen. It is to his credit that his presence did much to inspire them. Little’s richly flowing trumpet sound, Coleman’s pulsating tenor, Baker’s always appropriate piano, and Cranshaw’s steady bass lines, all complement the basic beat, and elaborations on it, that Roach provides throughout.

Here, as in the past, Roach is the perfect host.