WOODY HERMAN & HIS BANDS – THEIR FINEST ALBUMS (4 CDS) ENLIGHTENMENT

Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987), the celebrated American jazz clarinettist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his death in 1987. His bands often played music that was cutting edge and experimental for it’s time and their recordings received numerous Grammy nominations. No other bandleader in the history of jazz had the staying power of Woody Herman. From the Band That Plays the Blues, through the many “Herds” that came and went from the 1940s to the 1980s, Herman managed to maintain vitality in his big bands as others ran out of steam and dropped out of the race. There were two keys to Herman’s success. First, he continuously hired talented young players and arrangers. Second, he refused to lead a nostalgia band that played only hits of the past. The result was an ensemble that was always fresh and exciting, musically sharp, and – especially notable from the 1960s on, as rock music was eclipsing jazz – popular. This collection features eight of Woody Herman’s best albums, released originally between 1952 and 1963. An ideal compilation of Herman’s best re-masters ever compiled, this collection is both an ideal starting point for beginners to the great man’s music, an, equally, an extraordinary reminder of some of the best jazz ever made.


Tracks
– Disc 1 –
1 Red Top
2 Sweet and Lonely
3 Superman with a Horn
4 Bijou
5 Wild Root
6 Four Men on a Horse
7 Your Father’s Moustache
8 The Good Earth
9 Mean to Me
10 The Man I Love
11 Panacea
12 Blowin’ Up a Storm
13 Everywhere
14 Hallelujah!
15 Heads Up
16 Non-Alcoholic
17 Caldonia
18 The Goof and I
19 Keen and Peachy
20 Four Others
21 Blame Boehm
22 Mulligan Tawny
23 The Third Herd
– Disc 2 –
1 920 Special
2 Bags’ Other Groove
3 Broadway
4 Jumpin’ at the Woodside
5 The Boot
6 Wailing Wall
7 Bass Face
8 Junior
9 Opus De-Funk
10 Gina
11 I Remember Duke
12 Sentimental Journey
13 Cool Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
14 Where or When
15 Captain Ahab
16 I’ll Never Be the Same
17 Pimlico
– Disc 3 –
1 Blue Station
2 Pillar to Post
3 Midnight Sun
4 Woodchopper’s Ball
5 Balu
6 Lullaby of Birdland
7 Latin Flight
8 New Cha-Cha
9 Mambo Herd
10 Cha-Cha Chick
11 Tito Meets Woody
12 Carioca
13 Summer Sequence (Parts 1-4)
14 Sidewalks of Cuba
15 Caldonia
16 Lady McGowan’s Dream (Parts 1 & 2)
17 Back Talk
18 Everywhere
19 The Good Earth
– Disc 4 –
1 Four Brothers
2 Like Some Blues Man
3 Skoobeedoobee
4 Monterey Apple Tree
5 Skylark
6 The Magpie
7 Mo-Lasses
8 Blues for J.P
9 Don’t Get Around Much Anymore
10 Tunin’ in
11 Sister Sadie
12 Sig Ep
13 It’s a Lonesome Old Town (When You’re Not Around)
14 Camel Walk