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Complete Buddy Rich: 1946-1956
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Arguably one of the finest drummers of any genre, Bernard Buddy Rich is remembered best for his natural sense of rhythm, classic jazz recordings and somewhat fiery temper. Born to Jewish vaudevillian parents, Robert and Bess, on 30th September, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York, Rich first took up drums at the remarkably early age of just 18 months, becoming known as Traps The Drum Wonder . Sometime later he was acknowledged as the second highest-paid child entertainer in the world just behind actor Jackie Coogan. Rich undertook no formal training, allegedly didn t practice and couldn t read music. In spite of all this, he was performing as bandleader at the age of 11, and began playing with a major group in 1937, with clarinettist Joe Marsala and guitarist Jack LeMaire, at New York s Hickory House. Following his breakthrough, Rich made his first appearance on a major recording as part of the Vic Schoen orchestra at the age of 21. The late 1930s and early 1940s would see Rich perform with other notable artists such as Tommy Dorsey, Benny Carter and, perhaps most importantly, Frank Sinatra. Although Rich left Dorsey s group in 1942 to serve in the Marine Corps, he returned when WWII was over. It was around this time also that Rich began regularly featuring in Jazz at the Philharmonic, a series of concerts that boasted a plethora of prestigious musicians and vocalists during its 40 year run. Clearly influenced by his upbringing in the performing arts, he would also appear in a number of Hollywood films, including Symphony of Swing (1939), Ship Ahoy (1942) and How s About It (1943). Despite Frank Sinatra providing the financial backing to start his own band in 1946, the group were not successful enough to establish themselves until reformed as The Buddy Rich Big Band in 1966. Thus Rich spent much of the 1940s and 1950s performing as sideman to other musicians. In 1946, Rich teamed up with tenor saxophonist Lester Young and Nat King Cole (curiously credited only as Aye Guy on the original releases) for a series of recording sessions that would eventually be released in 1955 as The Lester Young Buddy Rich Trio by Norgran Records. In the same year, he appeared on The Lionel Hampton Art Tatum Buddy Rich Trio (Clef), Buddy and Sweets (Norgran) - with trumpet player Harry Sweets Edison - and Krupa and Rich (Clef) - a record which began a longstanding collaboration between Rich and fellow jazz drummer Gene Krupa. Rich s technique is often credited with being the basis for what is now the standard form of drumming, characterised by speed, precision, smooth execution and the ability to switch between drumming styles and grips effortlessly. However, despite his reputation behind the drums, he was also a noted singer, and indeed such records as Sing and Swing with Buddy Rich (Norgran, 1955) and Buddy Rich Sings Johnny Mercer (Verve, 1956) saw Rich almost entirely abandon his instrument of choice in favour of providing vocals. This five disc boxed set features the entire recorded output of Buddy Rich from his initial sessions with Lester Young through to his work in the mid-1950s, by which time he was on the brink of achieving the status of jazz legend . Over the course of the 10 original, albeit remastered, albums included here almost seven hours of music in total the natural rhythmical talent of Buddy Rich is illustrated perfectly as it provides the listener an ideal opportunity to sample the earliest recordings of this giant of jazz.