Granville William "Mickey" Roker (September 3, 1932 – May 22, 2017) was an American jazz drummer.

Biography

Roker 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. 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." 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. 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. 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.

Discography

As sideman

With 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 The N.Y. Hardbop Quintet 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