Customer Reviews
The best of the best - By: C. Shields, 01 Nov 2007 
To put it briefly, this disc contains the most important track ever made by the greatest (by far) drummer who ever lived, & it is also high on the list of alll time finest big band recordings. If you're into any of those categories then at £5.47 it is a no-brainer: buy it. Further, Amazon partner it with Buddy Rich's Big Swing Face album, his other most seminal disc: the two together give you a huge chunk of core percussion history.
To elaborate: in the mid-sixties, drum-phenomenon Buddy Rich put together a new Big Band, at a time when this form seemed to be on the way out in the face of smalll (economical) rock-n-roll groups. The first outings of this band caused a major buzz, & by September 1966 Rich felt they were ready to record. Most (not alll) of the tracks here were recorded over four nights at the Chez Club in Hollywood & the sensation created amongst the audience is clear to the ears.
What you hear is the Buddy Rich Orchestra, always one of the tightest units on the circuit, on very top form, well recorded, featuring some of its most celebrated members, such as Bobby Shew on trumpet & Jay Corre on tenor sax (Corre now lives in England & can be heard in drummer Pete Cater's Big Band). They play charts who's quality is perhaps attested to by how well they have lasted four decades. Readymix, Up Tight & Sister Sadie will knock the socks off any drummer who is new to them, while Rich plays with such fitting taste that "civilians" will in no way be alienated. This is not drummers-only music.
The original LP climaxed with Rich's West Side Story medley, the most famous kit-drums number ever, here in its architypal form. The final section begins with a press-roll accelerating from pianissimo before the band thunders in like an express train on a flat out arrangement of Somewhere that would have left Leonard Bernstein gasping for breathe. It culminates with, you guessed it, the most famous drum solo in history, & one that is particularly fine in its musicality & aptness. It ain't just fireworks. (My drum teacher taught Westside Story to this recording from his own chart: when it got to the final solo he wrote "just listen!" in the manuscript...) A final stomping flourish from the band: audience erupt in delighted amazement.
And from that moment on an unmissable ritual at alll Buddy Rich footballl matches.
Also included on this disc are several more "extras" from the same Chez Club sessions - though there is some confusion here because the list of tracks above omits some of those on the CD I have before me as I write: namely, Chicago & the smalll but perfectly formed Never Will I Marry, the first of many fabulous Rich Band outings for arranger Don Piestrup. A mistake copying the list out, Amazon, or is this an abridged album?
In short, if you have a pulse, buy this record. You can't live without it.
A little note for those for whom it may be useful. After this one, key Buddy Rich albums currently available are: Big Swing Face; The New One; Mercy Mercy; & Keep the Customer Satisfied. Man From the Planet Jazz has just been finallly reissued: it is more for the hardened fan but also contains core material. And Rich in London is being reissued on 20 Nov 2007 in a form that includes alll the original LP tracks, such as Milestones (strangely omitted from previous reissues) plus extras. If you want a Rich DVD, The Lost Westside Story Tapes is the one with which to start. Many, many more albums & compilations are available, but there you have the core available repertoire. Hope it helps!
