Woody Herman and Stan Kenton often receive credit, and deservedly so, for maintaining a big band over the span of decades in which many young Jazz musicians learned to ply their trade. Their bands' need for arrangements also provided a source of income for those musicians who wrote charts for a living. But often overlooked in this regard was Buddy Rich who fronted his own band from 1965 until his death in 1987 and who also provided numerous Jazz musicians and arrangers with many similar opportunities to work at and in their chosen profession. Buddy was often the focal point of controversy, much of it of his own making, but he deserves to be remembered as well for his significant contributions to the music and its makers.
