Black Music Sunday: Thank you, Roy Haynes

Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with over 235 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.

It is always a sad time when we have to announce that one of our greatest musicians has joined the ancestors. This week it was jazz drummer extraordinaire Roy Haynes, who died on Nov. 12, 2024, at the age of 99.

Yet there is joy in savoring the gifts he bequeathed us for multiple decades. Born in 1925, and starting out at the age of 17, he drummed for more years than many of us have lived on this planet.  While we offer condolences to his family, friends, and all those whose lives he intersected, I’d like to also simply say, “Thank you, Roy.”