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Buddy Rich Trio: Buddy Rich Trios
by Bruce Klauber
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 ...
read moreGive the Drummer Less
by Patrick Burnette
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 ...
read moreBuddy Rich: Just In Time: The Final Recording
by Chris May
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... ...
read moreTime Check: A Paucity of Riches?
by Jack Bowers
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 ...
read moreBuddy Rich Rides Again
by Jack Bowers
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 ...
read moreBuddy Rich: Birdland
by Glenn Astarita
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 ...
read moreWhiplash, Snidely
by Steven Hahn
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 ...
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