I figured I have been absent from this blog for quite a while, finding something to write about. Since I have been very much into jazz drumming nowadays, I guess I would write a little bit on a few of the world's greatest drummers. Starting with my favorite of all time, Buddy Rich.

Buddy Rich a.k.a Bernard Rich is arguably the best jazz drummer of all time. With a remarkable career which spanned seven decades, beginning from the time when he was 18 months old, you can say that he was a child prodigy even in his early days.

Name: Bernard Rich
Born: 30th September 1917
Died: 2nd April 1987
Honors: The Downbeat Magazine Hall of Fame, Modern Drummer Magazine Hall of Fame, Jazz Unlimited Immortals of Jazz Award

Being a kid with a natural sense of rhythm, Buddy Rich became a regular act on Broadway even at the age four. He was known as "Traps The Drum Wonder" and was the 2nd most highest paid child entertainer in the early days of his career. Rich was well known for his immense speed and dexterity in play despite never receiving any formal training. It is said that he never and refuses to practice outside of his performances.

Buddy Rich began his jazz career in 1937 when he started playing with Joe Marsala at New York's Hickory House. Two years later he was invited to join Tom Dorsey's band and he soon played alongside the jazz legends like Gene Krupa, Charlie Ventura and Louis Armstrong. His fame brought him to feature in several Hollywood movies, namely Symphony of Swing, Ships Ahoy and How's About It. Being a legend in his own right, he even had the honor of performing in front of the king of Thailand, the queen of England, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and King Hussein of Jordan.

Rich continued to remain active in drumming even towards the end of his career and he was known for having a rather eccentric nature. Word has it that he once got mad over the issue of one of his band members wearing a fake beard and gave him a tongue-lashing for it. But I guess that eccentricity of his makes him a brilliant musician in a certain sense.

Buddy Rich died of heart failure in 1987 and it was none other than a good friend of his, Frank Sinatra who read out his eulogy at his funeral. A legend truly, Rich can only be described as the greatest drummer to have ever lived.