Buddy Rich

Born. September 30, 1917.     Died. April 2, 1987.

1917 - Buddy Rich was born in Brooklyn NY.

1919 - At the tender age of 18 months, he was already featured in his parent's Vaudeville act Wilson &Rich.

1921 - Buddy Rich made his Broardway debut in Raymond Hitchcock's pinwheel.

1923 - Buddy went with his parents to Australia where for 18 months, he presented a solo act -Traps The Drum Wonder

1928 - By the age of 11, Buddy Rich was the second highest paid child star in the world, after Jackie Coogan, and he toured throughout the United States with his own showband.

1931 - His parents retired from Vaudeville and the Rich family settled in Brooklyn where Buddy soon became a part of the flourishing New York jazz scene of the 1930's.

1938 - Buddy Rich's jazz career began seriously at the Hickory House in New York, where he played with Joe Marsala.

1939 - Rich worked with Bunny Bergian and Artie Shaw.

1939-42 - Featured with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra before joining the U.S Marines.

1945-46 - Buddy Rich rejoined the Dorsey Orchestra and, by then, he was not only the highest paid sideman in the world but indisputably regarded as the greatest drummer of his day.

1946 - Buddy Rich decided to form his own big band with excellent arrangements by writers like Tadd Dameron and fine soloists like Zoot Sims, Al Kohn, Tony Scott and Johnny Mandell.

1947 - By this time the great days of the Big Band era were drawing to a close and Buddy Rich decided to accept an offer from Norman Granz to join Jazz At The Philharmonic. Between tours all over the world with JATP, Rich was one of the leading figures in the New York Jazz scene, where he worked and recorded with pioneering bop musicians like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk , Al Haig, Dexter Gordon, and many other great jazz players.

1950's - Buddy Rich worked alternately with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

1961 - Back with the Harry James band and once again the driving force behind this excellent Orchestra.

1966 - Buddy Rich decided to take the plunge and form his own big band. He assembled some of the leading players of the day, like Gene Quill and Pepper Adams. Over the next few years, the personnel of the Rich Orchestra included outstanding musicians like Don Menza, Art Pepper, Al Porcine, Pat LaBarbera and Steve Marcus.

1967 - Jackie Gleason selected the Buddy Rich Orchestra to feature on his summer TV series. During the autumn, he toured with Frank Sinatra.

70's - 80's -Buddy Rich continued lead his big band, except for a brief spell in 1974 when he formed a small group (featuring Sal Nistico, Sonny Fortune, Joe romano, Jack Wilkins, Kenny Baron, and John Bunch) at a club he opened in New York called Buddy's Place.

1987 - Buddy continued to tour with his big band until his death on April the 2nd 1987.

Artists Buddy performed with