Twelve Shades Of Blue - Woody Herman

 

The Blues Are Brewin'

Twelve Shades Of Blue

Woody Herman and His Orchestra

Columbia Records CL 683

1955

From the back cover: Woodrow Wilson Herman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At an age when mot boys are playing games, he was making his stage debut as the "Boy Wonder Of The Clarinet," throwing in a few songs and dances as well. After several years in vaudeville, he temporarily gave up entertainment per se and enrolled in Marquette University. When schooling was finished, he returned to show business and went to work in the orchestras of Gus Arnheim and Isham Jones. Soon he got it in mind to form a group of his own, and shortly thereafter, he opened in New York, at the Famous Door on the then-swinging Fifty Second Street. The group was an instant success, handling blues with unusual subtlety and imagination, and when this vein in the musician mine ran out, Woody organized the first of what has since become known as the Three Herds. All of the Herman groups have been characterized by solidly swinging music, and music that partakes of the best influences in modern jazz (and classical music, too).

In the midst of so much fine music, brilliant examples of which are available on Columbia Records, it is sometimes forgotten that Woody is a splendid vocalist as well. A singer of great intelligence and feeling, his phrasing of a line is as meaningful as his phrasing with the clarinet, and this collection presents some of his suavest vocal presentations, all of them leaning toward the blues that first made him famous, and featuring some of the finest instrumentalists who ever appeared on records.

Blues In The Night

My Blue Heaven

Blue Flame

The Blues are Brewin'

Blue Prelude

In The Blue Of Evening

Blue Moon

Am I Blue

Under A Blanket Of Blue

I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues

I've Got News For You

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea