Buddy Rich

On September 30, 1917, Buddy Rich was born to Robert and Bess Rich in Brooklyn, New York. They soon found out that their son was gifted when it came to playing the drums. At the age of one Buddy was able to keep a good beat when drumming with spoons. He was known as "Traps the Drum Wonder."

Rich never took sdrum lessons, and even refused to rehearse outside of his performances. He had a natural sense of rhythm. When he was just four years old he was already a regular on Broadway. At the beginning of Buddy's career, he was reported as one of the highest paid entertainers in the world! At the Age of 11, he was performing as the bandleader. Buddy looked up to people like Chick Webb, Gene Krupa, Dave Tough, and Jo Jones, and many others.

In 1937, Buddy's jazz career really started when he started playing at New York's Hickory House with Joe Marsala. After this he want on to perform with people like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, Louis Armstrong and Gene Krupa. Rich appeared in several Hollywood features including Symphony of Swing, Ship Ahoy and How's About It. Over the course of his career Rich appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the Mike Douglas Show, the Dick Cavett Show and the Merv Griffin Show. Rich played for many fans world wide, he even played for the King of Thailand, King Hussein of Jordan, the Queen of England, and U.S. presidents Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.http://www.buddyrich.com/about/bio.html

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Buddy has been known for his speed, and smooth moves make him legendary. He is known for his one handed drum rolls on both hands. Not many people can do that! One of his other moves are crossover riffs. That's where he would criss-cross his arms from one drum to another, sometimes over the arm, and even under the arm at great speed. When performing a single-stroke roll, Rich could be clocked at up to 20 strokes per second.[5]

On April 2, 1987, Buddy Rich died of heart failure following surgery for a brain tumor. He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. During the funeral Buddy's longtime friend, Frank Sinatra, said several touching words about the talented drummer. Buddy was 69 years old when he died.

According to jazz legend Gene Krupa, Rich was "The greatest drummer ever to have drawn breath." He will be remembered as one of history's greatest musicians.http://www.buddyrich.com/about/bio.html