Rich in Memory
ew musicians in jazz history have been as revered—and reviled—as Buddy Rich (1917-1987). Two recent remembrances chronicle those extremes. Pelle Berglund’s biography, (Hudson Music), reveals the self-taught musician’s natural brilliance and infamous temperament, from joining his parents’ vaudeville act as an 18-month-old to leading his final self-named big band at age 69. And (Gearbox), captured live at Ronnie Scott’s in London less than five months before his death from complications of brain cancer, displays Rich in top form
