I used to listen to Ted Heath’s great band. You don’t find too many drummers like that today. You just hold back the power according to the size of the band. I believe that if you play drums, you have to play everything. Today everything’s so specialised this guy’s great with a trio, or a quintet or a piano. You were hired strictly on your ability to play whatever the band called for. There used to be a time, in the old days-around about 1960-when you were never qualified as a small band drummer or as a big band drummer. That’s why most of the drummers in the States can’t play! I don’t believe in the idea that you play one way with the brushes and one way with the sticks. Which I’ve been known to do for the past 25 years. You can ask questions-and I’ll give you all the wrong answers. I just kinda sort out what should be played and play it. I don’t have any idea what I’m doing when I play. Interviewed by Les Tomkins, Buddy Rich talked in his usual forthright way about his own drumming style and technique, and about other drummers’ work that he liked or didn’t. In later years his band particularly showcased his dazzling virtuosity and was known for the ruthless discipline it imposed on its members. Rich’s playing, characterised by phenomenal speed, dexterity and precision, was powered by his forceful, extrovert personality. At its best it had star soloists such as saxophonists Don Menza and Art Pepper and top arrangers such as Bill Holman and Oliver Nelson. Then, after 1966 and into the 1970s, he achieved considerable international success leading another big band of his own. During the 1950s and 1960s, he played extensively with Harry James’ orchestra, and again with Dorsey. By 1950 he was recording with leading bebop players Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Bud Powell. Rich led his own first big band from 1945 to 1947 and also appeared with Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic package. He joined Joe Marsala’s band in 1937, and then worked with the bands of Bunny Berigan, Harry James, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and Benny Carter. He danced and drummed as a child, and was leading his own stage band at age 11. Drummer Bernard ‘Buddy’ Rich was born in Brooklyn, New York and became a stage performer at 18 months in his parents’ vaudeville act.

Buddy rich band