Customer Reviews

Blowin Up a Storm: The Columbia Years 1945-47

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michael Gilchrist (see above) rightly says "If Columbia was going to all this trouble, why not go for 100% instead of 90%?" I have to add that there several mistakes in these otherwise highly recommended CDs. The takes of both "The Good Earth" and "Summer Sequence, part IV" marked as alternates (CD2, #17 & #22) are actually the ones originally issued, and vice versa (check the tenor sax solos to spot the difference). Furthermore, the two Bijou takes included (CD1, #7 and CD2, #18) are both alternates, and thus the classic Bill Harris solo has been left out this compilation.

Woody Herman, big band and jazz collectors in general have long awaited this reissue release and will welcome what is arguably the most exciting big band music ever recorded. All the classics are there, along with often quite different, previously unissued takes, plus some interesting background comment from original participant Ralph Burns. One did hope, of course, following the earlier miserly 1988 effort by Columbia, that we might even eventually get a ‘complete’ edition of all the Woody Columbias in a 4 CD box, with all the extra takes, etc. Everything from this period is worth reissuing. This 2 CD set, while excellent, is obviously a compromise. However understandable this might be, what is very disappointing is that with 75 plus minutes available on CDs, Orrin Keepnews, who produced the set, settled for well under this time frame. There was ample room for another half dozen classics at least. Why weren’t Non-Alcoholic, Panacea, Laura, and more of the Woodchoppers slipped in as well? If Columbia was going to all this trouble, why not go for 100% instead of 90%? Even so, what we have here is desert island stuff for the jazz fan. The sound is ear-shattering, enabling us to hear Apple Honey, Wild Root, etc, almost as if for the first time. Absolutely brilliant!

The Bijou on tracks 7 and 18 is NOT the famous one originally issued on a 78- I still have it. They got it right on The Thundering Herds on CBS. Summer Sequence part 4 which is claimed to have been unissued I have on an LP bought in the 1950's. The unissued tracks on disc 2 are unbelievably bad and are irrelevant.

Great band, Great music of course, but there's alot more there than what you're hearing. This is the 5th Columbia Cd of Woody Herman, and all 5 CDs have just about the same tunes on them! Jazz fans, Big Band fans, Woody Herman fans, deserve something better than this! Do you think that Elvis Presley and Beatles fans would be satisfied with 5 almost-identical "Greatest Hits" CDs of their favorite artists? NEVER! Back in 1948, Columbia got the bright idea of coming out with the long-playing record, But when it came to re-issues, they would release only one side of the original records, and when it came to people like Woody Herman, it would be "instrumentals only". The same philosophy is true today. Too bad Columbia didn't ask me to produce this CD. I would have included the "flip-sides" never reissued like "Out of This World", "June Comes Around Every Year", "No Time", "You've Got Me Crying Again","If Its Love You Want", "Stars Fell On Alabama","Swing Low Sweet Clarinet"(a personal favorite!),"My Pal Gonzales",and others. Not only that, I've would have also released the still-unissued studio recordings of "Mean to Me", "They Went That-A-Way", and I'll guess I'll never hear Woody's version of "Anniversary Song". I would have done this rather than release those substandard alternate takes! Too Bad.

These two CDs contain some of the most outstanding big band jazz in the history of this marvelous music. Some of this material has not been available for a number of years. If you do not know this music, rush out and fill a big gap in your enjoyment of big band jazz.