BUDDY RICH - Time Check 

Music will never be powerful again! Good GOD!

Time Check... das hat nach so vielen Jahren immer noch Fast-Drive. Thanks from Nürnberg/Germany.

LET THE lion speak-your Right -On & Bar None. What amazes me to no end is , his precise memory of all these tunes and the on top , inbetween over and under and command of with the horns , AS a drummer this is the most unique talent to me , HE POSSESSED, not JUST THE SOLOING .I THANK THE STARS I, WAS ABLE TO SEE HIM LIVE ,....

NOBODY swing better than Bud. Check out his body posture during this smoker. He had THE best hands I've ever seen. He was and is the inspiration for countless musicians, myself included.

I saw Buddy with his big band twice in Memphis. Those are some of my favorite memories.

It doesn't get tighter, faster, and better than this.

There are so few people that have the ability to drive a big band like that!!

This is my all time fave Buddy Rich song. The whole band plays as one person. The four man saxaphone solo has to be seen to be believed. How can FOUR guys play so fast ( and so complicted a solo ) and still make it sound perfect. Wonderful!

Buddy's band was on point! ...precision, drive, technique & syncopated rhythm, he did it all, naturally. & the fellas in the band. excellent!!!

BR Altoist RAY RICKER sent me this email after I asked him if he missed any notes (haha) in that marvelous ’73 “At The Top” sax chorus at 2:12 of TIME CHECK (that night was only his 3rd or 4th Gig with the BR band). His reply: “Buddy came to Rochester and the 2nd alto player hurt his hand somehow. I knew the LaBarbera brothers and John & Pat recommended me for the gig. I filled in for the Rochester gig, which was a week and then played a couple of other area gigs. Buddy offered me the job, but I already was teaching at Eastman, was married with a daughter and had a good start on a teaching/playing career. As luck would have it, the local Public TV station was doing a show on Buddy. I think it was recorded on the 3rd or 4th night I was on the band. It was picked up by stations around the U.S. Lots of people saw it, and now it is on RU-vid & DVD. I really enjoyed my week+ with Buddy. He was very cordial and nice to me. Brian Grivna & I have kept track of each other over the years and I probably see Pat once every other year or so when he is in Rochester. I probably did miss a note here and there in TIME CHECK, but the unwritten rule in playing something like that is to keep going and at least play the contour of the line. ;-) Good luck to you in your musical endeavors. And thanks for taking the time to write. -Ray”

noone will ever play a drum set better than him. noone.

One my favorite Buddy Rich pieces. 1989 Bushwackers opener, Drum Corps Associates

Hey alright, Rochester! Hometown pride!

I just wish all people would take your advice. One thought: if anyone or anything is jugded to be "the best" - the only way further is DOWN! So lets look, bop and listen - and all enjoy together!

is there anything better than a tight sax sectional! OMG

Buddy "the best"Rich. What else?.

If you guys dig "Time Check", get the Buddy Rich Montreal Jazz Fest tape. He does this as an encore and it's at a faster tempo. His solo at the end is also incredible. Buddy bought many charts from Menza -- he wrote some fanstatic charts with incredible sax soli's.

Tight. Excellent sax solo.

Everytime I watch/hear buddy play, I'm left dumbfounded. Undoubtedly my undisputed champ. But of course there is no one best drummer of all time; different eras have their big names and legends to boast of. I just wish that one day, I can play just half of what Rich does. Half is enough for me. =) Travis Barker? I don't mean to be mean, but everytime i see Barker's name in the same sentence as Rich's, I feel like puking. Do these people even know what they're talking about!? Rich is a LEGEND.

Buddy loved is sax line, that's for sure ....

Oh man, the hairstyles, the clothes...oh yeah, and the playing...

if you asked the greatest drummersin the world who their fav was... the name most often heard was BUDDY. And he did on a simple set of drums. Not many sounds, but his talent made them sing.

Anyone can drum like barker, it takes endless talent and time to become buddy richs level

Buddy Rich was a youngster...Good video! tku

That is what I mean when saying that no one is the best... Because everybody has his/her own way... There is no best way. It's simply the best for somebody, but still not the best for all the rest... And the best way is, when you feel good. Anybody can find it... :) And everybody should live for it.

Dude. Best Sax soli ever.

WOW, i love how buddy and the bass player are just locked in so tight in that groove. . the whole group is just perfection.

No one ever took drums as seriously as Buddy. He was the master, and has never been topped.

---The marvellous Pat LaBarbera on tenor saxophone.......

Totally in a league of his own.

I've said it elsewhere, I'll say it again- Buddy Rich was the Saturn Five of all Drummers!

the DVD/video is called "Buddy Rich at the top" and is available from Hudson Music

His left hand had more skills than a lot of professional drummers these days, RIP Buddy!

Buddy Rich was a phenomenal drummer. Even today we have kids going around to every Buddy Rich video talking about how their favorite drummer is better than him. It kinda lets you know who really sets the standard. Buddy is SO good that that particular question naturally pops up.

lets not let jazz music die

Composer/Arranger is Don Menza. He wrote several charts for Buddy and Louie as well. Check out " Groovin' Hard" for another great sax soli. He is a master at big band writting. He was with Buddy in late '67, '68, and was on the "Mercy Mercy" album. He did the long tenor solo on "Channel One Suite".

Absolutely phenominal. Everyone alongside Buddy are Grade "A" musicians.

the man had staying power at least when it came to playing drums and never letting his fans down and that is something young people should imitate.

The more I watch and listen to Buddy, I am becoming more and more of a believer.

Incredible! Man I wanna be on that pocket

That sax part was amazing!!!!

The king of swing, the best drummer of all time. There is not a close second.

Buddy had an absolutely symbiotic relationship with his instruments. And, this band was so tight. What a perfect marriage!

Yes, I remember your dad. He played with many of the great bands. What is he up to now? How did he like playing with Buddy?

you guys are right, there are no odd time meters or anything, but the title "Time Check" is referring to the meter but yet the tempo. The problem for many bands is keeping a steady tempo. some will speed up and others will slow down. That's how the piece got it's name.

Buddy started his career on Slingerlands, but he had various contracts with other makers as well. i have seen him play Rogers, Slingerlands, Ludwigs and probably a few others. he started and ended his career on the Swingin Slingerlands.

I have always known for myself that one should learn anything from anybody else/whoever if he/she feels that this or that stuff is cool and he/she'll feel great when learning and after that playing it in his/her own way. It doesn't matter from whom you learn. What matters is to enjoy it in your own way. Everybody has his/her own way... Just has to find it...:)

truley amazing..

From 2:45 on the way Buddy plays I just can't believe what I'm seeing OR hearing. I don't know whether he thought out how to interpret a tune or if it's just instinct but I, even after watching and listening to him closely for years, still can't say I've ever seen anything like it.

chills

We ALL with we could play like that. :)

Thanks for posting this. It's an absolute gem. I saw and heard Buddy, and met him several times in Cardiff, Swansea and Bristol.

Rochester NY was very well know for Jazz long time ago..

I feel privileged to have seen Buddy play live! I don't believe that anyone has been better before or after! In typical fashion for Buddy, you will note that he uses his second floor tom for a coat rack! A practice for which he is well known. Most drummers surround themselves with loads of drums so they always have a target, but Buddy worked pure magic with just a four piece kit. Absolutely amazing!

These guys ARE today's musicians... they're still around, playing their asses off!

Very good, great sound, all marvelous. The drum fits so well in the music!! Excellent!!

awesome, thanks

thanks for posting this

My saxophone teacher for 18 years passed away recently. He played with Buddy's band for about a year in his youth. That must have been quite an experience. So I'm only two degrees from Buddy.... I doubt if he would have hired me though! At the time this video was made, I was still in high school playing trombone. Even though the toughest lines go to the saxes, I doubt if I would have ever been able to cut this tune even in my best days on bone. I have some playalong sax tunes that go almost this fast, never been able to make much of a dent in them.

hard to believe that Buddy is 52 in this video. what a talent he had. i only wish i had gotten to see him while he wsa still alive. R.I.P. Traps.

I only got to see him live once, and am I ever glad I at least got that one chance considering I lived out in the boonies lol I'll keep looking for more vids. This one was most excellent!

SECRETARIAT of drums!

I saw this air on PBS when I was a kid. This concert is a must have for a Rich fan. It brings back the excitment of seeing him live. West Side Story was on this as well.

couldn't agree with you more!! truly amazing stuff!!!

i have his signature sticks. :D weh weh weh.... But its true, he IS and always will be the man. (rip buddy)

Man do I miss the incredible Buddy Rich.R.I.P CHAMP

amazing, absolutely. perfect touch

Yeah, Don Menza's "Time Check" is as timeless a piece of music as you can get. No matter when you hear it, it seems as fresh as when he first wrote it. VERY powerful piece, especially played a little more up. Menza wrote a lot of stuff for Buddy and Louie. He is an amazing composer/arranger.

Buddy always had tight bands...and this one was one of the tightest!

Simply AMAZING!!!. Great chart

@cadillacdude1975 Buddy also played Vox and Fibes drumsets. This was around 1967'ish, and he didn't stay with either of them very long. There are a few videos on YT of him playing the Vox set, and one or two with him using a black Fibes set ~

Come on...can it get any better than this? Freakin' amazing!!! I wanna jump inside the music!

the last set of Slingerlands Buddy used were a set of vintage 1956 Radio Kings (if i remember from the article i read a few years back) that were restored to original quality and presented to him as a gift. he continued to use those until his untimely death. there is a set of Slingerlands in the Smithsonian that Buddy played, but i am unsure on what era he used them.

He's my favourite drummer.

yeah i have seen those. i wasnt sure on what they were or who made them. fact is Buddy could have been playing on kitchen pots and pans and it would have sounded just as good. RIP Buddy.

Great Grandmaster Rich... Gone But Never Forgotten!!!

I was at this concert and it was thrilling!

It was his solo. Soloists almost always stand up when it is their solo... It is called tradition. Respect, yo! :P

My schools Jazz Ensemble is playing this right now, and its this same arrangement! 2nd alto representin. GOD ITS HARD. But fun, once you got the groove going

goddammit these guys were on a completely different level of talent than today's rock/metal drummers simply amazing

dude, you gonna have to put your extrodinary talent on youtube, if it ain't there already, if it is I'm checkin' you out,better be great.

We all like different stuff, but any drummer who knows his stuff has Buddy Rich in his top ten.

Ray Rinker and Brian A. Grivna on altos. Cole left Buddy's band in 1971 ~

So good so far !...

great video! We dont often get to see Buddy playing with the full band here on youtube - usually just the solos. He could drive a band better than anyone.. like a fighter pilot or race car driver.

If you like this you should look for an album called "Roar of 74" great stuff. The man is the master when it comes to drums, my hero

Thanks for the info. I checked out your dad's website. He had some interesting things to say about Buddy ~

"Swingerlands" are what they should have been called when he played them.

HEY..PlasmaFire3000..i TOTALLY agree with u!!Jazz ROCKS!!!

The sax soli is absolutely amazing.

There were many great big band drummers, but Buddy was the only one that could drive a band like that. No one else. Different -- sure. But no one was ever his equal leading a big band.

Couldn't agree with you more!! :)

2:15 incredible section play.

sick

that swings

...2:15-2:40 is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard,extraordinary sax section break...wanderful...I love Buddy and his orchestra...

Holy cow do his charts ever scream! Having that tight of a band at that speed! I could only dream.....:D

Wrong about that. There are MANY videos on YT of Buddy with his band, you just have to keep looking past the first few pages. Check out some of my favorites for some examples. There are, thankfully, more being added as time goes by. Many of these clips are simply amazing. I saw Buddy in person 30 times, and he was absolutely shcoking. Both in his solos and in the way he made that band cook. He was truly amazing. A Genius.

Agreed!

It's not about licks per se but about the creativity within their musical context. Coltrane needed a drummer like Elvin to go as far out as he did musically. It can't be broken down to mere licks. It's a spirit thing.