Man From Planet Jazz, The (Live At Ronnie Scott's Club)

Previously issued on DRG as Live at Ronnie Scott's, this album documents drummer Buddy Rich's bout with what were contemporary trends in jazz and pop music during the year 1980. Operating in a groove similar to that of Maynard Ferguson's high-voltage big band, Rich and Co. churned out exciting music that went over well with the crowd at Ronnie Scott's jazz club in London, England. The leader of the reeds, and this band's featured soloist, was tenor and soprano saxophonist Steve Marcus. Don Menza's ultra-funky "Beulah Witch" and Bob Kaye's "Grand Concourse" have that beefed-up, big city big-band feel that was so prevalent during the '70s and '80s. The rest of the tunes on this album were composed by baritone saxophonist Bob Mintzer. His "Blues a la 88" is finely wrought and superbly executed. "Saturday Night" is the weakest of the Mintzer titles; the bombastic arrangement only exacerbates its rather shallow melody. Keyboardist Ernie Vantrease plays around with a synthesizer on "Slow Funk," and the results are entertaining. At fifteen-and-a-half minutes, "Good News" is the extended jam, with extroverted solos punctuated by blasts from the band. Behind all of this shiny activity Buddy Rich presided at his drums; pugilistic and thunderous as ever, he drove the band without turning the entire event into a series of extended drum solos. ~ arwulf arwulf|