Buddy Rich Biography
No drummer looms larger over the jazz genre than Buddy Rich (1917-1987). With a technical mastery that was matched by his bigger-than-life personality, the self-taught Rich lived up to his grand billing as “the world’s greatest drummer,” thanks to his unparalleled technique, dexterity and power, as well as his brilliant soloing abilities.
Born Bernard Rich in Brooklyn, Buddy began performing early in his childhood. The son of vaudevillian parents, he was only 18 months old when he began playing drums on stage, billed as “Traps, the Drum Wonder.” He continued to perform in vaudeville through his childhood, as a singer and tap dancer, but drumming remained his passion. At the peak of his childhood career, Buddy was reportedly the world’s second-highest-paid child entertainer (after actor Jackie Coogan). By 11, he was performing as a bandleader.
By the time he reached his 20s, Rich had embraced jazz, and won spots in the big bands of Bunny Berigan and Artie Shaw, prior to his 1939-1945 stint with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra. It was during his years with Dorsey that Rich really established himself as a major musician. After parting with Dorsey, Rich briefly led his own bebop-style outfit. He also toured with the all-star Jazz at the Philharmonic ensemble, and played on various ’50s sessions with such greats as Charlie Parker, Lionel Hampton, Art Tatum and Lester Young. He also served time with Les Brown, Harry James and Charlie Ventura in the ’50s and ’60s, and even reunited for awhile with Tommy Dorsey.
Although the popularity of big bands had sharply declined by the ’60s, in 1966 Rich went against the grain of the times and launched the Buddy Rich Big Band. He continued to tour and record prolifically with that group for the next 20 years, while also playing sessions with such artists as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson (on which Rich’s playing was considerably more restrained and less flamboyant than in his own performances). The garrulous drummer also remained a familiar media personality, thanks to his frequent appearances on The Tonight Show and other TV talk shows. The master drummer’s friend Mel Torme documented his life story in his Rich biography Traps, the Drum Wonder.
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