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Mickey Roker
Granville William "Mickey" Roker (September 3, 1932[1] – May 22, 2017)[2] was an American jazz drummer. BiographyRoker was born into extreme poverty in Miami to Granville (Sr.) and Willie Mae Roker. After his mother died (his father never lived with them), when he was only ten, he was taken by his grandmother to live in Philadelphia with his uncle Walter, who gave him his first drum kit and communicated his love of jazz to his nephew.[3] He also introduced the young Roker to the jazz scene in Philadelphia, where drummer Philly Joe Jones became Roker's idol. In the early 1950s, he began to gain recognition as a sensitive yet hard-driving big-band drummer. He was especially favored by Dizzy Gillespie, who remarked of him that "once he sets a groove, whatever it is, you can go to Paris and come back and it's right there. You never have to worry about it."[4] Roker was soon in demand for his supportive skills in both big-band and small-group settings. While in Philadelphia he played with Jimmy Oliver, Jimmy Heath, Jimmy Divine, King James and Sam Reed before moving to New York in 1959, where his first gigs were with Gigi Gryce, Ray Bryant, Joe Williams, Junior Mance, Nancy Wilson and the Duke Pearson big band.[4][5] In 1965 Mickey joined Art Farmer and Benny Golson's revamped group, the "New York Jazz Sextet". In 1992, he replaced Connie Kay in the Modern Jazz Quartet.[4] He recorded with Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Duke Pearson, Tommy Flanagan, Ella Fitzgerald, Zoot Sims, Horace Silver, Junior Mance, Sarah Vaughan, Milt Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Phil Woods, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Bucky Pizzarelli, Stanley Turrentine, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Hank Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Locke, and many other jazz musicians. Roker was still active on the Philadelphia music scene during the 21st century. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the age of 84, of natural causes, though he had been suffering from diabetes, lung cancer, and other health issues.[2] DiscographyAs sidemanWith Nat Adderley
With Gene Ammons
With Roy Ayers
With Joshua Breakstone
With Randy Brecker
With Ray Brown
With Ray Bryant
With Jon Faddis
With Art Farmer
With Frank Foster
With Dizzy Gillespie 
With Gigi Gryce
With Herbie Hancock
With Gene Harris
With Bobby Hutcherson
With Milt Jackson
With Willis Jackson
With Hank Jones
With Sam Jones
With Irene Kral
With Charles Kynard
With Mike Longo
With Junior Mance
With Herbie Mann
With Blue Mitchell
With the Modern Jazz Quartet
With Lee Morgan
With Joe Pass
With Duke Pearson
With Oscar Peterson and Stephane Grappelli
With Billie Poole
With Sonny Rollins
With Shirley Scott
With Horace Silver
With Buddy Terry
With Stanley Turrentine
With McCoy Tyner
With Harold Vick
With Mary Lou Williams
With Cedar Walton
With Joe Williams
With Reuben Wilson
With Phil Woods
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mickey Roker.
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