A previously unreleased live recording from various unattributed dates in 1977 and 1978,
Buddy Rich
leads his 15-piece big bands through exuberant music that for the most part avoids the contemporary
R&B
flavored
jazz
he was veering towards. Under the auspices of recording engineer, bandmember, and saxophonist
Alan Gauvin
, these 11 tracks represent a diplomatic
Rich
, handing off many of the solo chores and fortifying the group with rising stars at the time such as trumpeters
Dave Stahl
and
Jon Marshall
, trombonists
John Mosca
Rick Stepton
, pianists
Bob Kaye
or
Barry Keiner
, electric bass guitarist
Tom Warrington
, saxophonists
Bob Mintzer
,
Gary Pribeck
, and longtime running mate
Steve Marcus
. This is thoroughly modern
big-band
music, vibrant and brimming with energy and delight as demonstrated by the two openers, the 6/8
"Goodbye Yesterday"
and the hard swinging
"Machine."
These charts are read to strict tolerance, but have a breadth and depth of variety not normally associated with a commercial
enterprise. Two of
Bill Holman
's compositions are here -- the supercharged bopper
"Ready Mix, "
and the easier swinging
"Loose,"
the latter employing a lovely flute cadenza.
Mintzer
, who would shortly thereafter lead his own
big band
, contributes
"Party Time"
"Funk City-Ola"
representing the neo-
bop
Brecker Brothers
style skunk
funk
of the time. There's a fairly straight reading of
Bud Powell
's
"Bouncin' with Bud,"
a layered, rearranged intro to
Clifford Brown
"Joy Spring"
and the bluesy
Ernie Wilkins
evergreen
"Senator Sam,"
while the
pop
tune
"Chicago"
gets a more expansive treatment with
's drum fills as close as he comes to soloing. The title track is Exhibit A for the band's overall stance, a blazing
Don Menza
hard bop
classic that student bands should adopt for further exploration. It's a well recorded document, not to mention that the band sounds so unified, and plays together as if it were a regular working group (the personnel does measurably change from track to track) you'd think it was one single continuous performance, and not several snapshots of
in his waning days. This one is recommended. ~ Michael G. Nastos