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Born in 1932 in Miami and raised in Philadelphia, Mickey Roker played drums with R&B bands but was attracted to jazz.
He worked briefly with such visiting and local jazzmen as Jimmy Heath, Lee Morgan, and McCoy Tyner, and at the end of the '50s headed to New York. During the next few years he played in bands led by Gigi Gryce, Ray Bryant, Duke Pearson, Art Farmer, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson, Clifford Jordan, and Morgan. For a while he was a member of the house band at Blue Note Records, and played on many dates. In 1971 he began a long association with Dizzy Gillespie that lasted through the remainder of the decade. Freelancing in the '80s brought him into groups led by Oscar Peterson, Ray Bryant, Zoot Sims, Jackson, and Ray Brown. A forceful, dynamic drummer, Roker was rooted in swing but had the urgent attack of the best of the beboppers. Roker spent his later years living and working in the Philadelphia area. He died in May 2017 at age 84. ~ TiVo Staff, Rovi