Woody Herman-1963 Swingin'est Big Band Ever (25th Year-His Greatest) [Original recording remastered]

Woody Herman & His Orchestra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 7, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B0000631D8
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,251 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Desert islands were made for this album..., May 22, 2002

By 

Peter Sokolowski (Northampton, MA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Woody Herman-1963 Swingin'est Big Band Ever (25th Year-His Greatest) (Audio CD)

This is one of the best big-band records in history.

Basie's New Testament high point had passed. Ellington had reached his latter-day summit and had begun the inconsistent on-and-off pattern that would haunt his band for the rest of his life. Terry Gibbs's dreamy Dream Band was no more. Kenton was all over the map looking for an identity.

But Woody Herman's band never sounded better. No recording captures the mix of thundering punch and Fred Astaire lightness better than "Woody Herman 1963."

Some of the most thrilling moments in big-band jazz include the shout chorus of "Blues for J.P." and the stop-time moments of "Sister Sadie." This is updated First Herd whallop with hard bop harmonies, and the marriage is a natural one: Woody's band had always been identified with the blues.

There are the dynamic thrills-and-chills of "Sig Ep" and the controlled funk ecstasy of "Mo-Lasses." Wonderful wacky humor mixed with exoticism in "Camel Walk" and the roar of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore."

This album displays that at their best there was no better big-band drummer than Jake Hanna, no better rhythm pianist than Nat Pierce, no better tenor soloist than Sal Nistico, and no better lead trumpet sound than Bill Chase's.

There can be different, but not better.

There was no better bandleader than Woody Herman.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous recording by a fabulous band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, July 23, 2002

By 

John G. Nickerson (Danvers, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Woody Herman-1963 Swingin'est Big Band Ever (25th Year-His Greatest) (Audio CD)

I purchased this album a short time ago. I also have it on vinyl purchased when it was originlly issued back in the '60's. The band and Mr. Herman is worth 100 stars. That said a brief comment about the sound. All reissues should sound this good. The sound reproduction is absolutely first rate. You listen to this and you are probably hearing the band as it sounded when Woody was listening to the playbacks. It is that good. Highly recommend this classic. Mosaic plans on doing all the Philips things Woody did. I hope they strive to reproduce the effort that went into making this disc a reality. Long live Woody!!!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great long-overdue release, June 5, 2002

By 

Elwood Conway "elwoodc" (Frankfort, KY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Woody Herman-1963 Swingin'est Big Band Ever (25th Year-His Greatest) (Audio CD)

Finally Verve Records has released what is probably Woody's best recording of (in my opinion) his best Herd. The recording sounds great (the previous Jazz Masters series had excerpts from this session on it, but they were the mono versions!), nice wide stereo separation. But the real reason to get this recording is the incredibly tight band. Man these guys swing...neither Basie or Ferguson had anything on this band during this era. So don't waste any time...this baby goes out of print in May 2005. Get it today!