Customer Reviews

Buddy Rich and His Band - Channel One Suite

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let's really be grateful that we live in a time when performances of great geniuses like Buddy Rich can be taped and preserved for all of us now and in the future. Think what it would be like to have a tape of Mozart or Bach. Even in his late 60's and tired from being a working drummer since he was 1 and 1/2 years old, and playing a kit that most kids today would scoff at, Buddy was still the greatest of them ALL. And this band smokes! It sometimes seems that real music is forgotten in this age of sensory overload and slick, hi-gloss junk. Be thankful this DVD exists if only so people can witness great music played by great musicians. Forget the sometimes cheesy production, thats show biz. If you want to see real cheesy and mindless swill, turn on MTV. And they call it music? Be forever thankful that this DVD exists. ...

Quick echo of everyone else's comments...this is basically Set Two of the same concert in the Lost West Side Tapes...get West Side (part 1) and Channel One Suite (Set 2).

I like Westside more for displaying Buddy's drum solos, but Channel shows off his band more...and plus, I love Love for Sale...and that one is one this DVD.

The quality of the video is surprisingly VERY good, considering the footage was taken in the 70s...it really looks like an early 1990s movie, nice job. And sound? DTS and Dolby Digital 4.0...can't get better than that. Nice mix of the band

Give thanks to the DVD gods that we have Buddy Rich immortalized for eternity, in DTS glory and great video quality.

Thanks Buddy...we will miss you!

After first owning the first installment i must say this DVD is an improvement over the first one, that being the West SIde Story Set. The sound seems better to me on this DVD than the other and the picture is really sharp. As been said before, the band probably had better nights, but still they kicked butt on this DVD. I liked some of the extras, except i thought the explanations by the techs was too long. I wanted to see more Buddy, not more wires and cords and machines. One segment would have been enough, but they had three different segments on the tech aspect of the show, but id recommend this to anyone. Its BUDDY!!

Buddy gets four stars (while always amazing, he seems tired/uninspired), the video gets two, for an average of three. The King Street concert CD was hyped as super high-fidelity, but in fact was a poorly recorded disappointment, and the sound on this DVD is also muddy/thin. That said, it is an invaluable record of Buddy. (I haven't seen the West Side Story set DVD from the same concert--I assume it is of similarly mediocre production quality.) The band is not one of his best, but decent. The lighting is cheesy, too, but until someone unearths better footage, we'll have to do with this. I wish NBC (or Johnny Carson homself) would release a collection of Buddy's many appearances on the Tonight Show, or that somone would release his full set from Monterey, which seems to have been filmed.

Weatherby got it right, this is a bit disappointing. Having survived (sort of) a fire and the ensuing floodwaters, I suppose the quality is amazing. Still, it's a let down. It seemed a perfunctory performance by most of the band and even Buddy appeared worn down though he was doing more than simply going through the motions. I'm glad to have the DVD, but even happier I did not have to pay for it.

Buddy Rich played the drums without peer; he possessed lightening speed, but even more important, a self-taught technique that is often overlooked because of his sensational pyrotechnics. Beneath all the bravado, Buddy was also a very nice and generous person. Today's Neanderthal rock drummers, with their twenty piece kits with seventy-five cymbals could take a lesson and a half from him. The jazz drummers as a general rule have always been lightyears ahead of rock's noisemakers. Louis Belson, Gene Krupa, Syd Catlett, Dave Tough, etc., were all great musicians as well as great drummers. They had style, musicality, technique and natural ability that most rock drummers could only dream of possessing. They didn't just beat their snare like a caveman. These guys knew music. And at the top of this esteemed list sits Buddy Rich. In this DVD, Rich leads a big band whose members' average age is just twenty-two, but can they swing! Even at his advanced age and only two years after open-heart surgery, Buddy is playing at the top of his game. Check out his arrangements of "One O' Clock Jump" and "Love For Sale." It doesn't get much better than this.

I am a professional drummer and drum teacher. It is impossible for any of us music, drum, jazz people not to have at least one copy of a CD and or a DVD of Buddy Rich. This CD contains some of Buddy's best moments along with his awesome band. The musicians who make up the band are spectacular and there solo spots another amazing part of this video!

I recommend the video to drummers, novice to advanced as well as music lovers of Jazz, Be-bop, and Big Band.

One of the great classic recordings of the Buddy Rich Big Band - a must have! The audio fidelity is great, it has been thoughtfully restored.

Buddy played well on the DVD but more like he was on a road gig somewhere in Indiana. Just playin' for the date and then movin' on to the next one. With all the 'hype' this taping was supposed to have had how did the film get lost for years? Very nutty! Who put the money into this? The venture capitalists would have died had they heard the tapes were lost. Very screwy story. And the thing get's released nearly 20 years after it was taped? Hmmm. . .

The whole set is cheesy. Buddy is in front of neon lights and on a riser that looks like some kind of Egyptian monolith. The floor of the riser is clear and they put a camera below to see Buddy from down under. Screwy plot. All you see is an occasional shot of Buddy's crotch, his feet, his snare drum and the sweat pouring off his face. Very ridiculous camera angle and uninspiring.

There was 'hype' about the killer mics they had on the band. The sound isn't that great. In fact I've heard better boot leg .mp3's of the band in the internet.

The band plays typical Buddy arrangements and overall I would rate the band's playing as very good. Except for his trumpet soloist who has no business soloing. All he does is splat notes (lots of bad notes at that) like some kind of Arturo Sandoval that just been kicked in the crotch. Certainly Buddy should have noticed the frentic madness of that guy's soloing and put an end to it. The keyboard player is super. And that electric bass? Why Buddy why?

The one thing I have never liked about ANY Buddy Rich ensemble is that they DON'T SWING!! His bands always play like some kind of hard bop ensemble and don't lay back on the notes and phrasing. Buddy consistently kicked off tunes at torrid tempos forcing the band to really play hard and very on top of the beat. If you want a band that swings listen to Basie, Boss Brass, etc.

In any case this is an important work as Buddy died just a few years later. I admire Buddy for his incredible talent, drive and ability to keep big band alive. Personally Buddy is the most outrageous snob drummer to have played the skins. I sat down two feet from him during a break when he played at BYU and the prick didn't say a word to me despite my adulation. On the other hand I have been fortunate to meet several gentlemen of the craft including Erskine, Gadd, Roach, Williams, Dejonnete, Hamilton, Cameron and others. All fine people that treat the commoners with respect.