This story first appeared in 2013 as part of WRTI's "Where Music Lives" series. Drummer Charlie Rice passed away April, 2018. He was 98.
Steady work is a coveted and rare prize among many jazz musicians. WRTI’s Meridee Duddleston visits a force in the local jazz scene who never had a problem getting gigs. Jazz drummer Charlie Rice has been keeping the beat for more than 70 years and counting. In April, 2012 the City of Philadelphia recognized Rice as a Jazz Appreciation Month honoree.
Rice was a constant presence when jazz clubs dotted the landscape. His life is a chronicle of the many bands and performers with whom he's played, close to home and far away: Red Garland, Coleman Hawkins and Roy Eldridge, Louie Jordan's band. He toured the south with blues singer and saxophonist Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson's band at a time when black and white audience members were separated. In the '60s, Rice traveled across the United States and to Europe with Chet Baker's band.
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Still performing, Rice was on stage in December 2015 at a Jazz Bridge concert at the Collingswood Community Center in Collingswood, New Jersey. In early March, he told Meridee that if his health holds out, a repeat gig is a possibility. Charlie Rice is a one-of-a-kind presence in the area's jazz legacy.