The Making of Burning for Buddy: Drum 2 DVDs

This documentary captures the creative process behind a genuinely meaningful tribute, showing 18 elite drummers at work in real time rather than offering polished performances alone. The access to preparation, recording decisions, and candid control room moments gives drummers and their teachers rare insight into how masters approach the instrument, and Neil Peart's commentary thoughtfully frames why Buddy's legacy matters.

A masterclass wrapped in documentary. You're present for the real work of making music: technical discussion, problem-solving, laughter in the control room, and genuine reverence for a musician who set the bar impossibly high. The result feels intimate and honest rather than celebratory or mythologized.

Drummers at the intermediate to advanced level who want to understand how professional musicians prepare, record, and think about their playing. Band and orchestra directors seeking to inspire their percussion students with authentic documentation of working drummers. Educators building a curriculum around jazz history and the lineage of Great American musicians.

• Watch how each drummer interprets the same material differently; notice what choices they make with dynamics, time feel, and cymbal color despite the identical arrangements.
• Study the preparation segments to see how top professionals think through technical passages and phrasing before entering the studio.
• Listen to the interviews for how these drummers articulate their relationship to Buddy's playing and what specifically influenced their own sound and approach.

Show segments in a jazz ensemble or percussion class to spark discussion about technique, interpretation, and musical legacy. Use it as a resource for a concert program celebrating Buddy Rich or as context before students listen to his recordings. The bonus features provide historical perspective on different eras of his playing.

• observing how master drummers prepare and solve technical challenges
• understanding jazz time feel and interpretation through multiple approaches to the same material
• recognizing the lineage and influence of a jazz icon across generations of players