A Lost Gem - Buddy Rich

The great thing about the world of jazz is that it's full of lost gems - tracks on albums which just shouldn't be good, but take your breath away all the same. Well, I've had a lost gem moment tonight with the first track from this record...

Buddy Rich Big Band
Europa Jazz EJ-1009
1981
Produced by Sonny Lester

Side One

1. Three Day Sucker (Lofgreen)
2. Tommy Medley (Townsend)

Side Two

1. On Broadway (Mann-Weil-Leiber-Stoller)
2. Pieces Of Dreams (Legrand)
3. Ease On Down The Road (Schaefer-Wheeler)
4. West Side Story Medley '75 (Bernstein-Sondheim)

Personnel

LLOYD MICHELS, RICHARD HURWITZ, ROSS KONIKOFF, DANNY HAYES, CHARLES CAMIRELLI; trumpet
BARRY MAUR, GERALD CHAMBERLAIN; trombone
ANTHONY SALVATORI; bass trombone
PETER YELLIN, BILL BLAUT; alto sax
STEVE MARCUS; soprano/tenor sax
BOB MINTZER; tenor sax
ROGER ROSENBERG; baritone sax
GREG KOGAN; piano
WAYNE WRIGHT, CORNELL DUPREE, CLIFF MORRIS; guitar
BEN BROWN; bass
RAY ARMANDO; congas
BUDDY RICH; drums

Any way you look at it, 1981 should not have been a good year for Buddy Rich's music. He was in his 60's, after all, and having been regarded as one of the greatest drummers of the swing era, might even be said by some to be past it.

But, on this obscure LP - no name, very little information about the recording apart from titles and personnel - he has one standout track, one that made my jaw hit the floor with delight on hearing it.

Track 1, side 1. 'Three Day Sucker'. Even the title's great. It's basically a fast, funky workout for the horn section and guitars. Buddy doesn't really feature until a short solo at the end. It's just exactly what could happen when those late 70's/ early 80's big bands decided to get all raunchy. Imagine Elvis' Vegas band in their funkier moments, multiplied by 10, and you're almost there.

It would be great if the rest of the album lived up to this, but it doesn't. The 'Tommy' medley is unrecognizable (good!), and most of side 2 is utter tosh. The closing 'West Side Story Medley '75' is quite interesting with it's unusual time signatures and odd harmonics - probably more to do with the Bernstein composition than this particular arrangement, though.

I found a copy of this on the web for $4.50. If you see one as cheap, buy it, I guarantee you won't regret it (until track 2, anyway).

Here's some great shots of Buddy from the same era as this LP;


All of these pictures are taken from the Buddy Rich official website