Jamie Wyeth

September, 1967

Talking to the eternal drummerboy Bernard "Buddy" Rich--a man who has survived three heart attacks--limp and wet as a noodle in a night-club dressing room between sets, one wonders how he can charge into the fray night after night; but charge he does. Bandleader Rich is the explosive catalyst for an aggregation that is one of the most dynamic and exciting in the biz today ("Why? Because we're playing the 'now' sound. The music of 20 years ago is dead."). Buddy, at 50, spots m...