This profile, published in book form in 1968, originally appeared in The New Yorker magazine. Accompanied by never before published photographs of the drummer by Fred Seligo, author Whitney Balliet interviews Rich while travelling with him to a benefit performance for prisoners on Rikers Island. It is an intimate portrait of the man, the bandleader, “... the last thriving member of the quintet of great swing drummers who came forward in the thirties.” Rich speaks frankly about his personal and musical life, and the intimate photographs enrich his story.

Whitney Balliett has been the jazz critic of The New Yorker since 1957. His books include The Sound of Surprise; Such Sweet Thunder; Improvising; Night Creature; Jelly Roll, Jabbo, and Fats; and American Singers.