Buddy Rich

The idea probably looked good on paper. Why not combine Buddy Rich's Quintet of 1959 (which consisted of altoist Phil Woods, trombonist Willie Dennis, pianist John Bunch and bassist Phil Leshin) with Max Roach's band of the time (consisting of trumpeter Tommy Turrentine, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, trombonist Julian Priester and bassist Bobby Boswell)? This CD reissues all of the music (including four "new" alternate takes) but the excess of drum solos and the relative brevity of space given to the horns results in a great deal of sameness from track to track.

Avid Jazz here presents three classic Buddy Rich albums plus including original LP liner notes on a finely re-mastered double CD.
“The Wailing Buddy Rich”; “The Swinging Buddy Rich; “This One’s For Basie” plus 6 of 7 tracks from “Buddy And Sweets”.
Bernard “Buddy” Rich was born to show biz parents in Brooklyn in 1917. A natural drummer he was known in vaudeville as “Taps the Drum Wonder” and was leading his own band by the time he was eleven! Starting his jazz career in 1938 in Joe Marsala’s band he went on to play with the likes of Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw and Harry James…

Bernard "Buddy" Rich was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time. Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He discovered his affinity for jazz music at a young age and began drumming at the age of two. He began playing jazz in 1937, working with acts such as Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James. From 1942 to 1944, Rich served in the U.S. Marines. From 1945 to 1948, he led the Buddy Rich Orchestra. In 1966, he recorded a big-band style arrangement of songs from West Side Story. He found lasting success in 1966 with the formation of the Buddy Rich Big Band, also billed as the Buddy Rich Band and The Big Band Machine. Rich was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed. He was an advocate of the traditional grip, though he occasionally used matched grip when playing the toms. Despite his commercial success and musical talent, Rich never learned how to read sheet music, preferring to listen to drum parts and play them from memory.

As the Classics Chronological Series works its way into the early and mid-'50s, the magnitude of producer Norman Granz's achievement becomes increasingly apparent. Some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time - Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, Lester Young - were signed by Granz at a time when many Afro-American jazz musicians were struggling to get steady work, and jazz in general was beginning to take a back seat to pop vocals, R&B and rock & roll. Drummer and bandleader Buddy Rich had only just begun to lead a big band when the post-WWII restructuring of the entertainment industry edged him out. He was able to continue making records by working with smaller groups, oftentimes at recording sessions supervised by Norman Granz…

1966 was a most illogical time for anyone to try forming a new big band but Buddy Rich beat the odds. This CD reissues the first album by the Buddy Rich Orchestra, augmenting the original Lp program with nine previously unissued performances from the same sessions. The arrangements (eight by Oliver Nelson along with charts by Bill Holman, Phil Wilson, Jay Corre, Don Rader and others) swing, put the emphasis on the ensembles and primarily feature Corre's tenor although trumpeter Bobby Shew, altoist Pete Yellin, pianist John Bunch and guitarist Barry Zweig are also heard from. Most of the songs did not stay in the drummer's repertoire long (other than Bill Reddie's adaptation of "West Side Story" and "Sister Sadie") and in fact only three members of the 17-piece orchestra would still be working for Rich a year later. An enjoyable and somewhat historic set.