finetune artist: Woody Herman & His Orchestra

b. Woodrow Charles Herman, 16 May 1913, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, d. 29 October 1987, Los Angeles, California, USA. A child prodigy, Herman sang and tap-danced in local clubs before touring as a singer in vaudeville. To improve his act he took up the saxophone and later the clarinet, all by the age of 12. By his mid-teens he was sufficiently accomplished to play in a band, and he went on to work in a string of dance bands during the late 20s and early 30s. Last in this line was Isham Jones, Herman first being in Isham Jones' Juniors, with whom he recorded early in 1936. When Jones folded the band later that year, Herman was elected leader by a nucleus of musicians who wanted to continue. Initially a co-operative group, the band included flgelhorn player Joe Bishop, bass player Walt Yoder, drummer Frank Carlson and trombonist Neil Reid. With a positive if uncommercial view of what they wanted to achieve, they were billed as "The Band That Plays The Blues" and gradually built a following during the swing era. The success of their recordings of "Golden Wedding", a Jiggs Noble re-working of "La Cinquantaine", and especially Bishop's "At The Woodchoppers' Ball" helped the band's fortunes.

Listen to Woody Herman & His Orchestra at Finetune.

(2005) Big New Herd At The Monterey Jazz Festival [Live]
(1991) Blues On Parade 1938-1941
(1947) Blowin' Up A Storm: The Columbia Years 1945-1947

Woodchopper's Ball
Blues In The Night
Four Brothers
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Blue Flame

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