Buddy Rich leads a group of talented young musicians in his 1978 set from the Northsea Jazz Festival in Holland, videotaped for television broadcast. This color DVD, from the first of the acclaimed Jazz Icons series, features Rich with his Killer Force, a band he named after seeing a then-current Clint Eastwood film. Steve Marcus is extensively featured throughout a good part of the set, playing soprano in the lovely waltz "Best Coast" and Joe Zawinul's fusion hit "Birdland." He's primarily heard on tenor, highlighted by his blazing extended solo in "Channel One Suite," a favorite of Rich's musicians. There are several other great soloists in the band, though their time in the spotlight is usually brief. The drummer presses the band throughout the date and his extended solos are full of fire. Toward the end of the concert, Rich shows his vaudeville roots by teasing the audience and dumping a cup of water over his head after returning to his drums, then looking skyward as if it was raining. Bill Potts' Count Basie-like blues riff provides a swinging conclusion. The packaging includes numerous band photos and detailed liner notes by former Rich trumpeter Dean Pratt (who left the band a few months prior to this concert), plus a previously published interview of the bandleader by Mel Tormé. Well photographed and edited, with excellent audio, Jazz Icons: Live in '78 captures Buddy Rich & His Killer Force in a memorable performance.