Monarch2 of the drums
1-5-80
"Mediocrity has no place in my life," says fast-talking, hard-driving Buddy Rich, wrapped in a bathrobe at his luxurious3 Westside apartment. "Anybody who is expert at what they do, I admire, whether it's drumming, tennis, or whatever. If they do it at the top of their form, constantly, I become a fan."
Dragging deeply on his cigarette, the man whom critics and fellow jazz artists have frequently called the greatest drummer in the world — perhaps of all time — dismisses such labels with something approaching annoyance4.
"I don't think anybody is the best of anything in the world. Babe Ruth's record was broken, Joe Louis was knocked out. … I'd rather not be the world's greatest anything. I'd rather be what I am, which is a good drummer."
It is an unexpected statement to come from a bandleader and drummer known more for arrogance5 than modesty6, but in an hour-long interview, Buddy's complex personality unfolds itself in all its richness, and he proves to be far more than a flamboyant7, free-thinking musician who pulls no punches.
In Buddy's hands, a snare8 drum comes to life: it whispers, shouts, purrs, snarls9, chuckles10, gasps11 or roars, as the mood of the music strikes him. He began playing in 1921 at the age of 4, when his parents — vaudeville12 actors from Brooklyn — included him in their act and then made him the star. By the age of 7 he had toured the world as "Traps, the Drum Wonder." At 15, he was second only to Jackie Coogan as the highest-paid child performer in America. He began recording13 in 1937, joined bands headed by Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey, and finally formed his own band in 1946. Over the next 20 years, as both a drummer/bandleader and as the highest-paid sideman in the business, he made hundreds of recordings14 with some of the biggest names in the history of jazz — Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Harry15 James, Thelonius Monk16.
Then in 1966 he formed his current band, the 15-man Buddy Rich Orchestra. In December he brought the band to the chic17, newly remodeled Grand Finale on West 70th Street. Seated at his drums in the center of the orchestra, he effortlessly mixes snare, tom-tom, bass18 drum and cymbals19 in a whirling, benumbing mass of sound.
Back in his huge living room, which is decorated much like a summer house in Newport, Rhode Island, Buddy says that his nightclub gigs are rare. "We do about nine months on the road, which includes Europe and the Orient. All the cities of this country. Most of the tours I'm on are 90 percent concert halls and schools. … The main reason is educational. It's good for the young people to discover all of a sudden that music isn't just a guitar and a drum and a bad out-of-tune singer. … I think as young people become more sophisticated in their tastes, they begin to realize that jazz is just as high an art form as classical music."
One of his chief gripes about jazz in America, he explains in a voice as rough as sandpaper, is that "during the season you might see 15 or 20 award shows on television dedicated20 to country and western slop, but you'll never see a jazz presentation in its true form. When there's an extended piece of music, they usually cloud it up with dancing girls and trick lighting21 and anything that distracts from the music, instead of presenting the music as the attraction, the way they do in Europe."
Another sore spot is the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. "I'm heavily into sports cars; I used to race long ago. I find that the restrictions22 placed on us today are insane, contradictory23, and hypocritical. … I don't know anyone on the highway who actually does 55 miles an hour, and it's just another way of making money for the state or the local community, and I think it's no better than a *ing stickup!"
He doesn't keep any drums in the apartment, and never practices. "I want my days to be as a man, and I want my nights to be as a working man. In the day, I exercise, I do karate24 — I have a black belt — and totally disengage myself from the person I am at night." His apartment is shared by Buddy's wife Marie and their 25-year-old daughter Cathy, a singer.
"My wife is just as beautiful today as she was the day I married her," Buddy says proudly. "She used to be in pictures, but she gave it up when we married. Now she's a wife and a female and a woman, and she's not into ERA and she's not into 'I got my thing man and you got your thing.' She's a woman, and wears dresses so that I know she's a woman. That's what I like."
He often performs free at prisons and hospitals, but refuses to give details. "I do these things for the good that it does for me," he asserts. "To have someone write about it takes the goodness away from it. I'd rather not have anybody know what I do as long as I know."
Buddy suffered a heart attack in 1959 and has had others since, but apart from giving up liquor, he has made few adjustments in his whirlwind lifestyle. "I really don't think of past illnesses," he declares. "I think I'm healthier and stronger today than I've ever been in my life. I smoke more now, and I run around more, and I do more exercise. I don't put too much reality into warnings about 'don't do this and don't do that.' Do what you have to do, and do it. If you cut out — it was time."
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1
buddy
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| n.（美口）密友，伙伴 | |
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monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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flamboyant
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| adj.火焰般的，华丽的，炫耀的 | |
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snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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snarls
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| n.（动物的）龇牙低吼( snarl的名词复数 )；愤怒叫嚷（声）；咆哮（声）；疼痛叫声v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的第三人称单数 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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chuckles
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的名词复数 ) | |
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gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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vaudeville
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| n.歌舞杂耍表演 | |
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recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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recordings
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| n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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chic
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| n./adj.别致(的)，时髦(的)，讲究的 | |
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bass
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| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
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cymbals
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| pl.铙钹 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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karate
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| n.空手道(日本的一种徒手武术) | |
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