Buddy Rich, now 67, has been in the entertainment business for 65 of those years and for a good chunk of that time his swinging style of big band drumming became the yardstick by which budding tub thumpers judged themselves or were judged by others. In many ways that still holds good, for as at Lewisham he still drives a band along with consummate ease, is at home in a number of varied tempos including rock and can still dazzle with his West Side Story solo, predictable but technically awesome. His press rolls are still impossible to play.
His present band appears to be no better or worse than any other he has brought here over the past few years, high on precision and power but lacking in the solo department. Even Steve Marcus, specially billed, could not offer more than a handful of fairly ordinary tenor and soprano workouts. Pianist Bill Cuniiffe, who also doubles as arranger, proved to be the best of the bunch.
The programme itself was well balanced; apart from the inevitable West Side Story, there was a dip into Porgy And Bess, a disappointing God Bless The Child (solo feature for altoist Bob Bowlby), excitement with a rousing Birdland and a Basie tribute finale, One O’Clock Jump, which was highly creditable.
At the end of the day, however, it was clear that the band exists primarily as a showcase for the drummer, even when his solos are kept to a minimum.