"But, I don't think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can't create his own Interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that's written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom"
About this Quote
Buddy Rich is defending the drummer as an author, not a hired set of hands. In big-band culture, the “chart” is law for horn players: ink on paper, precision, blend. Rich draws a bright line around the drum chair. Give a drummer fully scripted parts, he argues, and you turn the engine of the band into a typewriter. “Mechanical” is the insult that lands hardest here because swing, by definition, is micro-deviation: tiny pushes and pulls against the grid that can’t be notated without killing the feel.
The intent is practical and territorial. Rich isn’t just talking aesthetics; he’s protecting a hierarchy where the drummer supplies interpretation, propulsion, and risk in real time. That’s why he says “should ever,” a sweeping rule that reads like a union card and a personal manifesto. It’s also a shot across the bow at arrangers who treat rhythm like plumbing, something you can diagram and install.
The subtext is about freedom under constraint. Rich isn’t rejecting structure; he’s insisting that the drum part is where structure gets negotiated, night by night, room by room. “Interpretation of the chart” reframes reading not as obedience but as dialogue: you don’t execute the page, you argue with it, tastefully, on beat.
Context matters: Rich came up when drummers fought to be taken seriously as musicians, not timekeepers. His line elevates the drummer’s intelligence and responsibility while quietly warning that if you remove improvisational agency, you don’t get accuracy - you get lifelessness. In Rich’s world, that’s not professionalism. That’s failure.
The intent is practical and territorial. Rich isn’t just talking aesthetics; he’s protecting a hierarchy where the drummer supplies interpretation, propulsion, and risk in real time. That’s why he says “should ever,” a sweeping rule that reads like a union card and a personal manifesto. It’s also a shot across the bow at arrangers who treat rhythm like plumbing, something you can diagram and install.
The subtext is about freedom under constraint. Rich isn’t rejecting structure; he’s insisting that the drum part is where structure gets negotiated, night by night, room by room. “Interpretation of the chart” reframes reading not as obedience but as dialogue: you don’t execute the page, you argue with it, tastefully, on beat.
Context matters: Rich came up when drummers fought to be taken seriously as musicians, not timekeepers. His line elevates the drummer’s intelligence and responsibility while quietly warning that if you remove improvisational agency, you don’t get accuracy - you get lifelessness. In Rich’s world, that’s not professionalism. That’s failure.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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