Buddy Rich: The Lost Tapes

When the highlight of a concert video is a drum solo, that usually signals big trouble: but not when the stick-slinger in question is Buddy Rich. Though apparently not one of the most likeable guys around, Rich, who died in 1987 (a few years after this show was recorded), was arguably the greatest jazz drummer who ever lived, boasting a resume as a sideman (with such legends as Lester Young, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and many, many others) that would have assured his fame even if he'd never led his own band. The Lost Tapes (so named because the masters were thought to have been destroyed in a fire; recovered in 1990, they were painstakingly restored for this release, with fine DTS and Dolby Digital stereo sound) finds him on the bandstand at age 67, playing brilliantly just two years after heart bypass surgery. Rich was not a composer (tunes here include Duke Ellington's "Cotton Tail" and Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight"), and neither his arrangements nor his musicians were as good as, say, Basie's or Ellington's. But all is forgiven when the band launches into the extended (and show-closing) "West Side Story Medley," featuring two solos by Rich that are simply breathtaking. DVD extras include brief commentaries by drummer Dave Weckl and various members of Rich's family, as well as a few words from the man himself. Recommended, overall. Aud: P. (S. Graham)