Buddy Rich New One CD

 Overlooked gem in the Rich catalog
Out of print almost since it's initial release until it's re-release in the U.S. as a digitally mastered CD, this gem of a recording marks the Buddy Rich Band that figured prominently on the CBS summer replacement series that spawned the opening track "Away We Go". Drummers take note: legend has it that this is the album that Buddy recorded using a Fibes drum set. Of the charts, New Blues and Group Shot continued to be in the Rich book up to the day he died, and Machine, The Rotten Kid, and Diabolis generate the kind of big band jazz excitement that only Rich and his men could generate. The sleeper, really, on this CD is the old Berigan standard I Can't Get Started, featuring Jay Corre, an stellar tenor player (my all-time favorite) who absolutely plays his heart out on this beautiful arrangement. For serious jazz listeners, the CD is replete with intricate and multi-layered arrangements with numerous and unusual time changes (especially on Diabolis: 9/8, 5/8, 5/4) as well as superb soloists, such as, on alto, the incomparable Ernie Watts, in his last recording with the band, and Pat LaBarbera, on what may be his first recording with Buddy. Chuck Findley and the L.A. studio great Ollie Mitchell nail down the trumpet section. The bonus tracks give a rare glimpse into the evolution of a band and it's chart. It's especially interesting to note how Buddy's drums are miked; sounds like a Fibes fiberglass to me. Notwithstanding the other great recordings that Buddy put out with Pacific Jazz during the 60's, this is often the one I choose first to take with me on the road. While the recording quality is, franky, not up to the standards of the other, Wally Heider-engineered live recordings, it's the only drawback to an otherwise stellar release. I highly recommend it.
Submitted by rick (Arvada CO)
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