Some complaints were: Buddy's playing wasn't varied enough, and not delicate enough, perhaps more style than substance?
Buddy was anything but delicate, Buddy's playing was relentless, and the bands he lead were powerful fine tuned machines.
The band Buddy lead in the mid to late 60's was in my opinion, the finest example of a modern big band in a live setting there ever was.
Steeped in tradition, yet not afraid to incorporate more of the popular music styles of the day was Buddy's style. Buddy was a brutal task master though, often berating band members during performances, when he thought they weren't playing at his high level.
If you watch some of the wonderful DVD releases of Buddy's shows, you can certainly see that buddy gave 100 percent at all times, and he expected nothing less from his band.
Buddy influenced so many other drummers, not only in the jazz world, but the world of rock as well. Rush's Neil Peart is an example of that, Buddy could do things most drummers just simply couldn't do, he was one of the few drummers to master the one handed roll with both hands.
I was 19 years old when I first realized Buddy's greatness: Back then I was into hard rock music, I knew drummers like Neil Peart and Tommy Lee were pretty good.
When I watched a 10 minute drum solo Buddy did, and noticed the ease in which he used the kit, the power and variety, I was blown away.
Now of course once I got into other styles of modern jazz I realized that there were other drummers that could rival Buddy. I am biased to Buddy because of my own Fathers love for him, and I always appreciated his no bull-shit attitude.
Even today I can't find a rock drummer his equal, only other Jazz drummers come close, and those drummer's have long since been gone as well. Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Tony Williams are some of my favorites other than Buddy.
When I watched a 10 minute drum solo Buddy did, and noticed the ease in which he used the kit, the power and variety, I was blown away.
Now of course once I got into other styles of modern jazz I realized that there were other drummers that could rival Buddy. I am biased to Buddy because of my own Fathers love for him, and I always appreciated his no bull-shit attitude.
Even today I can't find a rock drummer his equal, only other Jazz drummers come close, and those drummer's have long since been gone as well. Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Tony Williams are some of my favorites other than Buddy.
To me, Tony Williams was the greatest groundbreaking drummer of all time, he was on Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, started with the Davis quintet, before age 20! Buddy though, as a technical ass-kicking drummer was without a doubt, the Boss!
Note: Photo is back cover of the Rich Speak No Evil LP.
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