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Buddy Rich

Arguably the greatest jazz drummer of all time, the legendary Buddy Rich exhibited his love for music through the dedication of his life to the art. His was a career that spanned seven decades, beginning when Rich was 18 months old and continuing until his death in 1987. Immensely gifted, Rich could play with remarkable speed and dexterity despite the fact that he never received a formal lesson and refused to practice outside of his performances. Born Bernard Rich to vaudevillians Robert and Bess Rich on September 30, 1917, the famed drummer was introduced to audiences at a very young age. By 1921, he was a seasoned solo performer with his vaudeville act, "Traps the Drum Wonder." With his natural sense of rhythm, Rich performed regularly on Broadway at the age of four. At the peak of Rich's early career, he was the second-highest paid child entertainer in the world. Rich's jazz career began in 1937 when he began playing with Joe Marsala at New York's Hickory House. By 1939, he had joined Tommy Dorsey's band, and he later went on to play with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, Louis Armstrong and Gene Krupa. Rich was regularly featured in Jazz at the Philharmonic during the late 1940s. He also appeared in such Hollywood films as Symphony of Swing (1939), Ship Ahoy (1942) and How's About It (1943). Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rich toured with his own bands and opened two nightclubs, Buddy's Place and Buddy's Place II. Both clubs were regularly filled to capacity by fans of the great master drummer. After opening Buddy's Place II, Rich introduced new tunes with elements of rock into his repertoire, demonstrating his ability to adapt to his audience's changing tastes and establishing himself as a great rock drummer. Known for his caustic humor, Rich was a favorite on several television talk shows including the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Mike Douglas Show, the Dick Cavett Show and the Merv Griffin Show. During these appearances, audiences were entertained by Rich's constant sparring with the hosts and his slights of various pop singers. This famed musician received outstanding recognition throughout his career. The Downbeat Magazine Hall of Fame Award, the Modern Drummer Magazine Hall of Fame Award and the Jazz Unlimited Immortals of Jazz Award are just a few of his numerous honors. Rich gained international attention for such master compositions as his 10-minute West Side Story medley.

Buddy Rich Trio: Buddy Rich Trios

Read "Buddy Rich Trios" reviewed by Bruce Klauber

by Bruce Klauber
September 12, 2023

In 2023, some 36 years after his death, the name of Buddy Rich is still synonymous with the word “drums" in many quarters, as is his reputation as a swinging, driving, fiery, and charismatic drummer/leader of a series of superb big bands, roughly in existence from 1966 until his passing in 1987. What is not generally known is that Rich was also a sensitive, passionate and inspiring small group drummer, who backed, through the years, everyone from Lester Young and ...

Radio & Podcasts

Give the Drummer Less

by Patrick Burnette
May 26, 2022

Drummers are the under-sung heroes of the jazz world. At their best, they lift up and enhance whatever the so-called front-liners are up to while being ready to step up and say their piece when called upon. But every now and then things get a bit... sticky. This episode explores four recordings where to varying degrees the drummer goes a little wild and oddity results.Playlist Discussion of Charlie Parker's album Bird & Diz (Verve) 6:05 Discussion of Dexter ...

Album Review

Buddy Rich: Just In Time: The Final Recording

Read "Just In Time: The Final Recording" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
November 28, 2019

There are few sounds in jazz as thrilling as a big band in full flight. And a big band led by Buddy Rich promises to send the listener's dials into the red. The live album Just In Time: The Final Recording delivers on the promise. When London club owner Ronnie Scott introduces Rich, he dispenses with any of his oft-repeated, well-loved jokes and nails it simply and definitively: “A big hand please for the world's greatest drummer. Ladies and gentlemen... ...

Big Band Report

Time Check: A Paucity of Riches?

by Jack Bowers
June 2, 2016

On May 18, Betty and I flew to Los Angeles to attend Time Check: A Buddy Rich Alumni Reunion, a four-day panorama sponsored by the L.A. Jazz Institute and held at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, about a stone's throw or two from the LAX airport. We arrived early afternoon so we could also be present for the “bonus" concert that evening, billed as an all-star tribute to vibraphone great Terry Gibbs with Chuck Redd sitting in on vibes for the ...

Big Band Report

Buddy Rich Rides Again

by Jack Bowers
January 27, 2016

Those who believe that Buddy Rich is the greatest big-band drummer who ever lived (yes, I'm one of them) can look forward to a marvelous treat this spring when Ken Poston and the Los Angeles Jazz Institute present Time Check: A Buddy Rich Alumni Reunion May 19-22 at the Sheraton Gateway / LAX Hotel. The four-day event will spotlight big bands and smaller groups comprised in part of Buddy Rich alumni, all-star alumni-plus bands performing original arrangements written for Buddy's ...

Album Review

Buddy Rich: Birdland

Read "Birdland" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
June 26, 2015

There's usually a reason why previously unreleased material was never initially offered for consumer consumption, whether it's due to subpar sound quality, less than adequate material or blasé musicians' outtakes and so on. However, these tracks by the Buddy Rich Killer Force band were recorded at various venues through the years when saxophonist Alan Gauvin--who also penned the album notes --was in the band and recorded these performances for posterity and not initially intended to be sold. Gauvin doesn't recall ...

Film Review

Whiplash, Snidely

by Steven Hahn
December 25, 2014

Jazz lovers, while always attuned to the possibility of their cherished art form entering the media mainstream, are also equally filled with dread when it occasionally does happen. Inevitably we end up consoling ourselves with a revived career (Dexter Gordon--Bird) or an outstanding performance (James Carter, et al.--Kansas City) in lieu of an actual believable plot or an authentic resemblance to any known jazz milieu. In Whiplash, we have both deficiencies illustrated. Seriously, are there any real life ...

Recording

Buddy Rich’s 'Birdland' Lp To Be Re-released On Limited Edition Translucent Red Vinyl July 21, 2023

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
July 1, 2023

Lightyear Entertainment and Lobitos Creek Ranch, in association with Scabeba Entertainment and the Buddy Rich Estate, have announced the release of a special limited-edition version of the best-selling live album Birdland featuring Buddy Rich and his Killer Force Band at the peak of their performing years. The new release will be a 180-gram audiophile translucent red vinyl collector’s edition. It will be released July 21 through Virgin/Universal Music Group and will temporarily replace the original black vinyl version, which has ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buddy Rich

Source: Michael Ricci
September 30, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Buddy Rich's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buddy Rich

Source: Michael Ricci
September 30, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Buddy Rich's birthday today!

Video / DVD

Buddy Rich on the Road, 1978

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 26, 2021

The Buddy Rich Big Band was the last great swing orchestra. The band toured relentlessly in the late 1960s, '70s and '80s, up until Rich's death in 1987. The band's ballads and barn-burners were compelling. What's more, the band had its own sound and featured sterling arrangements and captivating soloists. Rich's '78 band was particularly exceptional, especially on the road. Here's the Buddy Rich Big Band in Sweden in '78, with special guest soloists Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis and Harry “Sweets" ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buddy Rich

Source: Michael Ricci
September 30, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Buddy Rich's birthday today!

Recording

Buddy Rich: Final Recording

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 10, 2019

In 1983, I saw Buddy Rich and his big band at a long-gone New York club called Wednesday's on East 86th Street. I recall a mid-week gig and that the place was a disco on the weekends. The only table available was the one directly in front of Rich's bass drum. We took it. People had avoided the table as if it had been placed amid Hell's Angels at a rock festival. Sitting there, your teeth were sure to rattle ...
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Video / DVD

Doc: Buddy Rich, Jazz Legend

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 28, 2019

In 2002, Warner Bros. released one of the finest documentaries of drummer Buddy Rich. The film clips are rare and spectacular. Produced by Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel, and co-produced and written by Bruce H. Klauber, with Cathy Rich and Sandy Feldstein as co-executive producers, the documentary can be seen at YouTube in two parts. Bruce Kauber sent along links to Part 1, which covers Rich's career from 1917 to 1970, and Part 2 which spans from 1970 to 1987. ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buddy Rich

Source: Michael Ricci
September 30, 2019

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Buddy Rich

Source: Michael Ricci
September 30, 2018

Recording

Buddy Rich "The Lost Tapes" Now Available On CD And Vinyl Lp

Source: Glass Onyon PR - William James
February 15, 2018

Lightyear Entertainment and Lobitos Creek Ranch, in association with Scabeba Entertainment and the Buddy Rich Estate, have released the live album The Lost Tapes featuring Buddy Rich and his Big Band, recorded in 1985 at the King Street Studios in San Francisco on CD and vinyl LP. The album is part of the Buddy Rich Centennial Celebration. Buddy was born on September 30, 1917. The album is the soundtrack from the concert film The Lost Tapes, which has been available ...
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