R.I.P. Buddy Rich ~ Bernard " Buddy" Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987)

April 2, 1987: 

 
Often referred to as the world's best drummer, Buddy Rich died of complications caused by a brain tumor.

He was 69 years old…

Buddy Rich was born in 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. The musician was a child prodigy in vaudeville shows, known as “Baby Traps, the Drum Wonder.”

Before he formed his own bands, he played in swing bands with Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey.

 He was known for his exceptional drumming speed…

Drumming legend Gene Krupa once said that Buddy was "The greatest drummer ever to have drawn breath."

The “Impossible” Drum Solo:

Birdland Performed by the Buddy Rich Big Band:

Check out this link to TotalDrumsets.com for some good info and GREAT videos of Buddy Rich…

Another BuddyRich BIO <-----------click here 

R.I.P. BUDDY RICH

AND THANKS FOR THE MUSIC AND ALL THAT CAME WITH IT!!!

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HOLLYWOOD'S MACAMBO CLUB IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'N ROLL

The Mocambo was a nightclub in West Hollywood, California, at 8588 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip.

                                              
It was opened on January 3, 1941, and the Mocambo became an immediate success. $100,000 had been spent on the decor of the club with a Latin American theme. Along the walls were glass cages holding live cockatoos, macaws and other parrots. With big band music, the club became one of the most popular dance-till-dawn spots in town. On any given night, one might find the room filled with the leading men and women of the motion picture industry.

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

 In 1943, when Frank Sinatra became a solo act,

he made his Los Angeles debut at Mocambo.

Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland

 

The mid 1950s saw Ella Fitzgerald become the first African-American to perform at the Mocambo, after Marilyn Monroe had lobbied the owner for the booking.

I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt. It was because of her that I played the Mocambo, a very popular nightclub (Ella Fitzgerald)

The booking was instrumental in Fitzgerald's career. The incident was turned into a play by Bonnie Greer in 2005.

Among the celebrities who frequented the much talked about Mocambo were Gable and Lombard, Bogart and Bacall…

Bogart and Bacall were regulars at The Macombo

     Errol Flynn, Judy Garland, Janet Leigh and Louis B. Mayer. Myrna Loy and Arthur Hornblow celebrated their divorce there.

The club was featured on the TV series I Love Lucy, and Ricky Ricardo and his orchestra can still be seen there in reruns.

Desi Arnez a/k/a Ricky Ricardo

The Mocambo was also parodied mercilessly in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Slick Hare.

According to a commentary track on the DVD with this cartoon, the man who came up with the visuals of the restaurant managed to get into the kitchen and drew the kitchen exactly as he saw it - complete with dripping grease on the refrigerator and vegetables lying around the ground!

Billy Ward And His Dominoes played at The Mocambo, Los Angeles on January 4, 1955

The Mocambo closed in 1959. The site is now a parking lot

HARLEM NOCTURNE IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'N ROLL...

“Harlem Nocturne” has its roots in late 1930s’ jazz and the big band era. While on the road with the Ray Noble Orchestra, trombonist/composer Earle Hagen composed “Harlem Nocturne,” and the song became a jazz standard.

Initially, Hagen

Earle Hagan recieving one of his several Emmys

wrote the song as a tribute to saxophonist Johnny Hodges, known for his solo work with Duke Ellington’s band. 

In 1945, Johnny Otis recorded Harlem Nocturne as an early single on the Savoy label; and not long after that came a raft of cover versions by virtually every sax player in the R & B business.

There may be as many as 500 versions, making it one of the most covered songs in history. Among the many artists who have covered the song are: Duke Ellington, Harry James, the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Lounge Lizards, Earl Bostic, Quncy Jones, King Curtis,

Boots Randolph, guitarist Danny Gatton, the Ventures, and others. It’s been estimated that there are at least 500 covers of this tune in circulation!

But it was the Viscounts, a New Jersey band, that put the song on the musical map in a new way in the late 1950s and early 1960s, adding a new twist – an eerie guitar echo effect

The Viscounts’ “Harlem Nocturne” was recorded in 1958. By January 1959, “Harlem Nocturne” was climbing the pop charts and had risen to No.52--Not  a "smash hit" for sure, but it became a classic anyway!!!

Music critic Dave Marsh includes the Viscounts’ version of “Harlem Nocturne” in his 1999 book, The Heart of Rock & Soul: the 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.

This classic certainly holds a major place in

THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK ‘N ROLL!!!

DIZZY GILESSPIE'S MANTECA IS A FACTOR IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'N ROLL

In the late 1940s, Dizzy Gillespie, in a large way due to his association with the Cuban percussionist, Chano Pozo,

was instrumental in the  Afro-Cuban music movement. Afro-Latin American music and elements garnered greater prominence in jazz and  pop music as  a result of  this movement, Afro-Cuban jazz is based on traditional Afro-Cuban rhythms.




Dizzy Gillespie was introduced to Chano Pozo in 1947 by Mario Bauza, a Latin jazz trumpet player. Pozo became Gillespie's conga drummer. Dizzy Gilespie also worked with Mario Bauza in New York jazz clubs on 52nd street and several famous dance clubs such as Palladium and the Apollo Theater in Harlem. They played together in the Chick Webb band and Cab Calloway's band, where Gillespie and Bauza became life-long friends. In the process, Dizzy helped develop and mature the Afro-Cuban jazz style.

Afro-Cuban jazz was considered bebop-oriented, and some musicians classified it as a modern style. Afro-Cuban jazz was successful because it never decreased in popularity and it always attracted people to dance to its unique rhythms.

MANTECA is Dizzy’s signature Afro-Cuban influenced masterpiece. Co-written with Chano Pozo in the late 1940s, it has endured the ages...

TROPICAL JON: MY IDOL, MR. GENE KRUPA

Gene Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973)

According to Wikipedia: (Gene Krupa)  was an influential  drummer and and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style. NO KIDDING!!!--This cat was not only "energetic and flambouant"

--He was the innovator of the BIG BEAT SOUND (IMHO)!!!

GENE KRUPA SAMPLE: CLICK ON HERE

Gene started out in 1927 with Eddie Condon and Rod McKenzie. Krupa made his first recordings in 1927. His use of a "full drum kit" on the Condon recordings was really innovarive at the time . Eddie Condon describes what happened in the Okeh Records studio on that day (in 'We Called It Music' - pub: Peter Davis, 1948):

Mezzrow (Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow) was helping Krupa set up his drums. 'What are you going to do with those?' Rockwell (Okeh's 'A&R' man in the 1920s) asked. 'Play them,' Krupa said simply. Rockwell shook his head. 'You can't do that,' he said. 'You'll ruin our equipment. All we've ever used on records are snare drums and cymbals. (From Wikipedia)

HEY--The rest is HISTORY!!!

SING SING SING--CHECK IT OUT!!!

MY FAVORITE GENE KRUPA MOVIE CLIP--BALL OF FIRE 1941

(CLICK HERE TO) CHECK OUT THIS GENE KRUPA VS. BUDDY RICH BATTLE!!! 

Detroit's FAVORITE rock drummer, Johnny "Bee" Badanjek (far right) likes Gene, too!!!

(Photo used with permission, Thanks, Bee)