“Will it!” That’s what Freddie Gruber told me that Buddy Rich remarked to him. They were “playing drums” and trading phrases on the table of a restaurant, opposite the Edison Hotel in New York, as they were waiting for their food. Buddy played some incredible 64th note roll, and Freddie came up short in his musical response. Years later, this one seemingly insignificant but fun moment in their friendship, epitomized for Freddie the power of Buddy Rich’s single-minded determination, and success on whatever he focused his mind.
The most obvious and public aspect of Buddy Rich’s life accomplishment was his astonishing artistry as a drummer. We certainly wanted to make that an important aspect of this issue’s feature entitled “Way Beyond Drums.” We know that Buddy was temperamental, mercurial and unpredictable. Some people have placed unnecessary emphasis on that—on what amounts to an insignificant parentheses in the life of an incredible artist who entertained, awed and inspired millions of people, and many musicians, notably drummers, who were motivated in either their career choices, or their pursuit of excellence. Our focus on the human side of Buddy Rich became all the more worthy as we began to discover that behind the scenes, among friends and family, Buddy Rich was a generous, loyal, thoughtful, committed, friend and family person, who was quiet and private. These understandings resulted in our taking Jack Scarangella’s suggestion to call this feature “Way Beyond Drums, A Portrait of The Man.”
We began the feature a year ago. I called Dave Miele to research and write a bio-discographical feature, similar to those exhaustive pieces that we had published about Art Blakey, Joe Henderson and others. We chose Dave because of experience as a drummer, educator, academic credentials from Purchase College, his insight, understanding, thoroughness and thoughtful nature. Dave’s essay provides a snapshot of Buddy Rich’s career, performances and recordings, in 25,000 words or less, and opens this 100+ page feature on page 34.
Steve Peck worked as Buddy’s manager/road manager for the last thirteen years of Buddy’s life. Around 1974, while ruminating a new direction to take in his life, Steve was relaxing in Ft. Lauderdale. He was admiring a sports car, when the caretaker of the auto asked him if he knew how to drive it, and whether he would drive it to New York the next day. Steve thought he was going alone. When Steve showed up, there was a passenger waiting. The passenger was Buddy Rich, whose car Steve would be driving. The rest is history. Between making hotel and travel arrangements, planning itineraries, hiring and firing, and more, Steve had the opportunity to shoot photographs of the band for thirteen years. On page 81, you’ll find a sixteen page photo gallery, comprised primarily of a number of Steve’s photos of Buddy Rich. One of my favorites is the one of Buddy with Dr. Ruth. Steve speaks fondly of his experiences with the band, and the “four musketeers” with whom he would pal around: Buddy Rich, late tenor player and musical director, Steve Marcus, the late pianist Barry Keiner, and Steve. Steve speaks about his experiences beginning on page 97.
There were a number of others who were very close to Buddy who generously shared their time and observations with us for this feature. Among them are Buddy’s wife, Marie Rich, daughter Cathy Rich, grandson Nick Rich, drummer and close friend for 40 years Freddie Gruber, Buddy’s manager and friend of 50 years, Stanley Kay, Buddy’s very close and loving friend and virtually adopted son Jack Scarangella, musicians Terry Gibbs (who played with Buddy beginning in the 1940s), John LaBarbera (trumpeter and arranger for Buddy Rich’s Big Band during 18 years), Bobby Shew (lead trumpet player in the first edition of Buddy’s Swinging New Big Band in 1966), Remo Belli (Remo drum heads).
Despite the exhaustive length of this feature, we were still unable to include everyone. There were a number of musicians who played with various editions of Buddy’s band, and the comments of other drummers who we would have liked to have included in the “Remembering Buddy” section of this feature. We are sure that many would have had interesting, valuable, or otherwise apropos and noteworthy contributions. Time and space limitations simply made us put those on the backburner for the potential part two.
Jazz Improv® Magazine’s readership has grown substantially over the past eight years and is made up largely of jazz consumers—fans and enthusiasts—active buyers of recordings, books, and people who attend jazz clubs, concerts and festivals. Because a number of our readers also happen to make music, we are including a 100+ page music e-book (including songs, solos, exercises) on the companion CD each issue. You’ll find the second installment of our new 24-page section, entitled “The Guitar Pages,” edited by Wolf Marshall (printed on cream-colored pages, and which starts on page 241).
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