Not So Modern Drummer features the true-life adventures of Jack Scarangella in our new ongoing series.
It's a life I still haven't seen anyone else live...To also be in the sports world bringing my drums into Yankee Stadium…Buddy Rich couldn't believe it ! - Yet, he was so proud of me... Fred Lipsius of Blood Sweat and Tears said: When you write your life story…The title should be – ‘I've Got The Pictures To Prove It’.
-- Jack Scarangella
Special night...Special friends...Special evening at the Blue Note - New York City...Jack Scarangella, Willie Randolph, Buddy Rich, and Mel Lewis...Listening to Buddy’s band...One of the best nights of my life on planet Earth... R.I.P. Buddy & Mel...Till We Meet Again...
On April 2, 1987 Buddy Rich passed, and my world and life changed forever. I would like to share what I said that spring day on May 17, 1987 to all who attended Buddy's Memorial Service at Saint Peter's Church in New York City.
“I do not possess the words to say what my heart and soul feels about Buddy. We have a special feeling for each other. Buddy was like a father to me…But, I can tell you this, his feelings and passion for life are planted in all of us forever. His love for all sports especially baseball and his favorite team, his friends “The New York Yankees” were what Buddy Rich the man and the artist were all about.
Winning, pride, tradition, and above all commitment to Marie and Cathy, his band, his friends, and his audiences around the world. That is why he is the leader, a hero to young and old, and the standard for all-time. Like ‘Babe’ Ruth he is forever young. Like Lou Gehrig he is invincible. Like Joe DiMaggio, he made it look effortless. Like Mickey Mantle he always came through in the clutch, and like Jackie Robinson who stood up against all odds. For me Buddy is the bravest, the gentlest, most loving man I will ever know in my life.
"I do feel that Jack is the Buddy Rich of his generation, maybe even in some ways a man born out of his own time.''
Marty Grebb
Jack…You could make cardboard boxes sound great.
-- Ralph DeLorso