The Woody Herman Band!

 

Strange

The Woody Herman Band!

Capitol Records T560
1954

Woody Herman - Clarinet & Alto Sax
Dick Hafer, Bill Perkins, Dave Madden - Tenor Saxes
Jack Nimitz - Baritone Sax
Al Porcino, Dick Collins, John Howell, Charlie Walp, Bill Castagnino - Trumpets
Cy Touff - Bass Trumpet
Dick Kenney, Keith Moon - Trombones
Nat Pierce - Piano
Reed Kelly - Bass
Chuck Flores - Drums

From the back cover: One of the most amazing stories in the music business in the past few years has been the return to the big band field of Woody Herman, and his subsequent demonstration that a big band can be successful and still play the kind of music it wants to.Woody, who has been around the entertainment world a long time – he was billed in vaudeville as "The Boy Wonder of the Clarinet" in 1922 when he was nine years old – had led three highly successful big bands when he organized his Sextet in the early 1950s. The first Herman band, "The Band That Plays the Blues," was a pre-war favorite in the late swing era. The second was the great 1945-46 "First Herd" which set music business records in the mid-forties that still stand. The other was the "Second Herd," the 1947-48 band that featured the famous Four Brothers sound the most imi- tated band sound in jazz – and which recorded the classic Early Autumn for Capitol. Despite the fact that this band won the Down Beat poll and other honors, the music business was at such a low ebb at the time that the "Second Herd" had to be scrapped.

When Woody formed his present band, the one that has become known as the "Third Herd," he carefully planned it to aim first at the dancing public and secondly at the jazz fans. Ralph Burns, Woody's chief arranger and composer of Early Autumn, wrote a basic book designed to keep the Four Brothers sound, featuring danceable tunes in good tempos and yet spicing them with sufficient jazz flavor to hold the interest, not only of the musicians themselves, but of the jazz-minded members of the younger generation.

That they have done this is evident from the success story of the band. In the past three years they have worked 50 weeks of the year with a regular ten days or two weeks vacation. They have pioneered in the presentation of modern big band swing in such spots as the Golden Hotel in Reno and the Statler in New York. In addition, they have made a specialty of playing, with notable success, at college proms and concerts during the spring and fall.

Early in 1954, the "Third Herd" introduced Europe to this type of American orchestra and the subsequent headlines in the British trade papers were enthusiastic. "The Band Is As Great As They Say," the New Musical Express headlined in a rave review.

The reasons for the "Third Herd's" popularity are self-evident on this record. There is the supple, rhythmic foundation – the swing which characterizes Woody Herman; there is the intelligent attention to melodic ballads, beautiful in treatment, bringing out the loveliness that can be jazz; and there is the precision, versatility, and excitement of a big band that is adept, sure of itself, and secure in the knowledge that a major part of its function is to reach the audience.

Over the cleanly swinging rhythm, Woody has integrated the best of modern jazz and the fundamentals of the swing school with the intention of playing for the people, playing good dance music and good jazz-because the roots of jazz are in dance music, and the excitement and fire of jazz can reach almost any audience if it is based on good dance rhythms. It is a tribute to Woody as a musician and as a leader that he has done this. – Ralph J. Gleason Editor, "The Rhythm Section," San Francisco Chronicle

These are the tunes on this record, presenting an excellent cross-section of the varied talents of the "Third Herd."

WILD APPLE HONEY, a great flagwaver, is by now a Herman standard. Tenor solos are by Bill Perkins and Dick Hafer; Cy Touff is heard on bass trumpet; and Charlie Walp's long trumpet solo intro- duces a series of exchanges between the men in the trumpet section.

STRANGE, a beautiful ballad arranged by Ralph Burns, features Woody's romantic alto sax and Dick Kenney's lyric trombone..

MISTY MORNING, a Ralph Burns original, features Woody's alto and Bill Perkins' tenor in what seems destined to be an- other Early Autumn.

WOULD HE?, a catchy original by Manny Albam, offers solos by Touff, Perkins, and Woody on clarinet.

SLEEP, the old standard in an excellent dance tempo, gives Jack Nimitz his chance for a baritone solo after bits by Perkins and Nat Pierce.

AUTOBAHN BLUES, a Ralph Burns original celebrating the Third Herd's visit to Germany in 1954, has solos by Perkins, Woody, and Pierce before a beautiful trumpet chorus by John Howell. This sort of solid blues number is a strong point with this band and seems likely to become a jazz classic.

BY PLAY, a Manny Albam original, features Cy Touff and his bass trumpet in a bright number.

LA CUCARACHA MAMBO is a whimsical arrangement by Billy May. Woody stars on clarinet and the insinuating dance rhythm is simply delightful.

ILL WIND, a ballad of the late 30s arranged by Ralph Burns, features a beautiful soft trumpet solo by Dick Collins, one of the young stars of the Third Herd, another excellent tenor solo by Perkins, and some warm, moving alto by Woody.

BOO HOO, an arrangement of the old pop tune by Nat Pierce, is done in excellent dance tempo and features Collins and Touff trading four bar choruses on the trumpet and bass trumpet.

HITTIN' THE BOTTLE, an old novelty from the 30s, is a head arrangement with solos by Woody, Touff, Perkins and some high note trumpet by Bill Castagnino.