Buddy Rich Photos contributed by Mike James
From a performance at "The Prom Center", Minneapolis, Minnesota - April 1977
Due to poor publicity, I didn't find out about this concert until about 6 hours before the start time. By a stroke of luck, I was able to get tickets, and by another stroke of luck, this concert was "general seating". So, by arriving early, I got a good seat to hear, see, and shoot the photos.
This concert was three sets... something I never saw Buddy do, before or since. Wow! Being able to hear 3 sets of Buddy and the band was a real treat. I took some notes as I shot the photos, and have included them as captions, below.
Excuse the very average quality, and relatively-small size of these...
The original negatives were lost years ago, and so these are scans of some 3-inch X 2-inch "proofs", which are all that remain. Since they were black and white, the photos here are posted as GIFs.
Enjoy!
Mike
Click any image below for the full-size version.
Buddy enjoying the piano playing of the very young Barry Kiener.
Buddy having an intense moment with Steve Marcus. (tenor sax)
Buddy encouraging the guitarist, during "Channel One Suite".
Buddy eyeballing the audience.
Buddy gets funky on "Kong".
Having some funwith the trombone section.
Second row, man...What a night it was!
Grooving on "Party Time".
Buddy demonstrating how to really PLAY the cymbals, about midway through his solo on "West Side Story Medley".
Buddy plays a perfect, blazing, single-stroke roll.
