Search - Buddy Rich :: Europe '77

Buddy Rich Live!! Nothing better!!

stephen condon | keller, texas United States | 09/07/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a life long Buddy Rich fan, and one fortunate enough to have seen him live many times, I think that this album captures the true sound of "The Worlds Greatest Drummer" and his band from their late 70's heyday. The highlights include an electifying version of "Yah Gotta Try", a mellow version of "Best Coast", the funky " No Jive", a rare and perfect "Unidentified Blues" and an awe inspiring rendition of his trademark "Channel One Suite". No one plays like Buddy and no one can match his speed, technique and sheer command of the music. This is truely the master at his best. I rate this a close second behind "Wham!" for capturing the power, excitement and genious of the greatest and his band."

Start With This One

Duncan MacLeod | Kingston, NH | 08/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're one of those few individuals with an ear left on the planet who are still unfamiliar with the big band of Buddy Rich, this is one of, if not the first, of his many albums you should check out. You can hardly go wrong with any Buddy Rich album, except that the earliest few, from the mid-sixties, sounded a little postwar-ish, not quite contemporary. By the time of this album, however, the arrangements were starting to be quite funky and not the least bit "retro" any more.



I've made a number of composite Buddy Rich tapes and CDs for road listening, and "Party Time," "No Jive," "So What," and the versions of "Willowcrest" and "Norwegian Wood" from this album are almost always included. Buddy's drumming on Channel One Suite is incredible, but the solo is too long even for me; and there is a way-too-long unaccompanied sax solo that if I could I'd edit out.



But there is too much fantastic music on this CD for the above to keep it from still rating five stars--or almost."