Customer Reviews

Europe '77

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

 

 

As a life long Buddy Rich fan, and one fortunate enough to have seen him live many times, I think that this album captures the true sound of "The Worlds Greatest Drummer" and his band from their late 70's heyday. The highlights include an electifying version of "Yah Gotta Try", a mellow version of "Best Coast", the funky " No Jive", a rare and perfect "Unidentified Blues" and an awe inspiring rendition of his trademark "Channel One Suite". No one plays like Buddy and no one can match his speed, technique and sheer command of the music. This is truely the master at his best. I rate this a close second behind "Wham!" for capturing the power, excitement and genious of the greatest and his band.

If you're one of those few individuals with an ear left on the planet who are still unfamiliar with the big band of Buddy Rich, this is one of, if not the first, of his many albums you should check out. You can hardly go wrong with any Buddy Rich album, except that the earliest few, from the mid-sixties, sounded a little postwar-ish, not quite contemporary. By the time of this album, however, the arrangements were starting to be quite funky and not the least bit "retro" any more.

I've made a number of composite Buddy Rich tapes and CDs for road listening, and "Party Time," "No Jive," "So What," and the versions of "Willowcrest" and "Norwegian Wood" from this album are almost always included. Buddy's drumming on Channel One Suite is incredible, but the solo is too long even for me; and there is a way-too-long unaccompanied sax solo that if I could I'd edit out.

But there is too much fantastic music on this CD for the above to keep it from still rating five stars--or almost.

This gem of a recording captures Buddy Rich and his amazing Killer Force Band at their best during a live performance. Though a few sound blips are present, the recording quality is otherwise excellent. Buddy sounds amazing as usual, and the trumpet section is perhaps Buddy's best ever. The liner notes incorrectly identify Chuck Schmidt, when it is in fact Dave Stahl playing lead on this album. All trumpet players should listen to this concert as a study in perfect big band trumpet section and lead playing. A great recording.

I can't disagree with any of the comments left by my peers about this recording, except to add that the sound quality can detract from the listening enjoyment somewhat. While not nearly as bad as some, and not as good in some respects as Wham!, it's nonetheless not a FIVE STAR recording in the strictest sense (neither is Wham!, though). From an archival standpoint, however, the recordings offered in this release should be in your library, if for no other reason than to hear a joyous, loose and swinging version of Norwegian Wood, or for the steroidal version of So What (I wonder if Miles ever heard this). Issued in much the same format as a typical nights set, in some respects I prefer this over Wham! Channel One Suite has the distinction, for me, of being one of the most interesting, albeit one of the longest, versions available. Buddy's snare work is clear and distinct throughout.