I’m going to be fronting the Buddy Rich Big Band, barnstorming venues across the world. Yes, that Buddy Rich—the best drummer that ever lived, the most influential man to ever pick up a pair of sticks and bang on things. Buddy could make anything sound rhythmic—drums and cymbals especially. I even saw him bang on a Muppet head once, and even that sounded incredible! I’m going to be playing with a sixteen-piece big band, playing Buddy charts, and bringing Nutville to the youth—just as Buddy did! (He played more high schools and colleges than Chuck Taylor.) Now, of course you’ll ask, “How did I come up with such a concept?” I didn’t do it alone. This is where Buddy Rich’s daughter Cathy enters the blogosphere. One day we were sitting in our living room, looking at the 1991 Buddy Memorial Concert poster for the show at The Ritz in NYC (where I actually first met Cathy). She’s done many Memorial Concerts in the twenty-five years since Buddy’s passing. The drumming elite of the business were always well represented—Peart, Gadd, Smith, Weckl, Colaiuta, to name a few. But those were all one-night stands in L.A., NYC, and Boston—what about Lincoln, Nebraska or Dayton, Ohio?

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