Jazz Icons: Buddy Rich Live in '78
With his fiery polyrhythms and large-than-life persona, Buddy Rich was the last of the big-band drummers. This blistering 75-minute date from Holland (in 1978) features Rich's Killer Force ensemble (named after a Clint Eastwood movie). With saxophonists Steve Marcus and Gary Pribeck, trumpeter Mike McGovern, and trombonists Glenn Franke and Dale Kirkland as the primary soloists, Rich drives his men through eight selections of no-nonsense, straight-ahead jazz, which includes Sal Nestico's "You Gotta Try," John La Barbera's waltz, "Best Coast," and a melancholic rendition of Thelonious Monk's immortal ballad, "'Round Midnight." The Weather Report hit "Birdland" is given a run for its money, thanks to Rich's riveting rhythms, and the "Channel One Suite" features his best extended solo. The DVD is augmented by an informative 20-page booklet, which includes a Down Beat interview with Mel Torme, where Rich states, "I like to think of my solos as telling a story." Thanks to this document, new generations get to see and hear Rich's syncopated stories told through his relentless artistry in motion.--Eugene Holley, Jr.