Like it was.

Plucked from an agonizingly recondite jazz blog post and discussion:

There’s a Sunday morning public affairs show in these parts [NYC] called “Like It Is.” This morning [3/6] it featured Max Roach. For those of you who don’t know, Max is in pretty bad shape. He’s 81 now. I missed the beginning of the show, but based on the footage I saw, it seems apparent he is suffering from Alzheimer’s. The story revolved, in part, around a visit to Max paid by Randy Weston. Mr. Weston talked about the musical and cultural importance of Max, reminisced a bit, and played some tunes for Max. Sadly, Mr. Roach didn’t speak, nor did he seem to recognize his old friend or even understand what was going on.

Roach, seemingly the only drummer to be named a MacArthur Fellow, is so innately rhythmic he knocks on doors in 9/8 time. I missed this program, but note that it has recently been cut back from an hour to a half an hour; doubtless this had nothing to do with Black History Month coming to its short end.