Woody Herman At Carnegie Hall

Panacea

Woody Herman And The Herd At Carnegie Hall

Cover Photograph: From Shostall

Full Fidelity Lion L70059

1958

From the back cover: It was on a chill Monday evening in March, 1946 that Woody Herman and his "Herd" filled onto a stage at staid Carnegie Hall in New York City to "blow up a storm" and make a bit of jazz history. Their forces number no less than fourteen saxes, trumpets and trombones – plus four rhythm instruments. Woody himself doubled between clarinet and alto sax and, of course, held forth on vocals. The group that night was truly of all-star caliber: Sam Marowitz and John PaPorta, alto saxes; Joe "Flip" Phillips and Mickey Folus, tenor saxes; Sam Runbinwitch, baritone sax; Conrad Gozzo, Pete Candoli, Irving Markowitz, Shorty Rogers, and Sonny Herman, trumpets; Ralph Pfiffner, Ed Kiefer, and Bill Harris, trombone; Tony Aless, piano; Billy Bauer, guitar; Don Lamond, drums; Chubby Jackson, bass; Red Norvo, vibraharp; and Woody himself. This was just about the greatest "Herd" Herman ever assembled. The date was March 25m 1946 – and for the jazz-lover lucky enough to be in attendance it was a memorable one.

On the music stands that night lay some of the most fabulous arrangements ever penned in the field of big band jazz. Most of them were the work of a phenomenally talented twenty-three-year-old who was to pass on from trump to trump in later years: Ralph Burns. Burns was matched in his originality and daring that night, however, by another remarkable arranging talent, Neal Hefts, was was responsible for the scoring of three top Herman favorites: Wildroot, Everywhere and The Good Earth. And, those Burns and Hefit arrangements were probably played that night with more skill and fire than they ever had or have been since. The late Sonny Berman took most of the trumpet solos, with Pete Candoli soaring forth on Superman With A Horn.

Woody gave with some fine clarinet passages, "Flip" Phillips held forth on the solo tenor, and Bill Harris shone on spotlighted trombone. Between the big band bits, there was some flashy display form that smaller aggregation: "The Woodchoppers" – and here gleamed the vibes of Red Norvo.

Red Top

Superman With A Horn

Bijou

Wild Root

Four Men On A Horse

The Good Earth

Panacea

Blowin' Up A Storm

Everywhere

Heads Up

Your Father's Mustache