Customer Reviews

Woody Herman-1963 Swingin'est Big Band Ever (25th Year-His Greatest)

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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.

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!!!

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!

The band(s) that Woody led between '62-'65 were the hippest, most exciting and swingnest big bands I ever heard. The arrangements (most done by long time Herman pianist Nat Pierce) are state of the art. Tenor man Sal Nistico could wail on sax like he does on this recording all night, but it's the groove that lead trumpeter Bill Chase and drummer Jake Hanna have that makes the Herd swing so well.

Listen how Chase and Hanna "lock in" and push the band to levels of intensity beyond comparison. Bill Chase, the greatest "lead trumpet player" in history as far as I'm concerned, had a "spin" on his sound that sepertaed him from everybody else (not to take away from Gozzo, Porcino, Audino, etc) but Chase really packs a punch. He later did the same with his own early '70's jazz-rock group called 'Chase.'

Music buddies of mine who got to know this Herman band well told me that other big bands of the time were scared of this particular Herman band...nobody could compete with them for swingin' so hard.

It took coulmbia forever to release the 'Woody's Winner's' LP on CD and I'm glad to see this Phillips recording out on cd, they need to put the Encore '63 Live album out next.

Great recording of an incredible organization at its peak. Other reviewers here have praised Bill Chase, Nat Pierce, and Jake Hanna, rightfully so. But let's also give a shout-out to Phil Wilson, whose solo on "It's a Lonesome Old Town" begins with one of the all-time greatest trombone licks and goes on from there, exploiting the instrument's resources like nobody's business. Just amazing.

And something indefinable must have been added by The Old Man too, because this is not merely a collection of great soloists. They really, really swing hard. Beautiful ensemble playing at all dynamic levels--and there are many--which gave this Herd the strength of an army.

I listened to this in my car on the way home from work yesterday, and by the time the CD got to "Sig Ep" (talk about Woody's knack for just the right tempo) I was dancing in my seat. Buy this, children, and you will learn some more of what a great band can do -- even if you've already had lessons from the Count and the Duke.

If you define renaissance as " a revival of intellectual or artistic achievement and vigor", then this CD release qualifies. Easily one of my top three choices for big bands from the 60's, this ensemble rivals the First Herd in dynamics and sheer enthusiasm. The First Herd was populated by such luminaries as Dave Tough, Pete And Conte Candoli, Chubby Jackson, Bill Harris, Neal Hefti, Flip Phillips, Shorty Rogers - the list is a long and distinguished one. While perhaps lacking the depth of the bench that was the Thundering Herd, this CD boasts an impressive line-up that echos the earlier iteration, with stellar trumpeter Bill Chase, trombonist Phil Wilson, and tenorist Sal Nistico, all of whom went on to greater fame and fortune, in attendance. Locking the sections together is none other than Jake Hanna on drums, with Nat Pierce on piano, who also provides many of the arrangements. Historically, Hermans' bands all suffered from lack of an effective drummer, save for Dave Tough in the forties, and Hanna absolutely nails the quarterbacking role like no other drummer I know of (and I'm not leaving out anybody). All of the tracks are good, with Blues for J.P. and Sig Ep (Kranky) my favorites. Pierces' arrangement of Sister Sadie is worth mentioning, primarily because of it's association with the Buddy Rich Big Band; you make the call as to which arrangement is better. All in all, save for the 41-45 singles from the First Herd, this is the best of The Herds to collect. Incidentally, this was the 1964 Grammy Award winner for Best Large Jazz Ensemble.

If you're into the big band sound of Woody Herman's 60's band, you won't be disapointed if you buy this one. I really liked the packaging-it's neat to have a copy of the original LP cover. As for the sound, you can't beat it. The band sounds great in this studio recording and trombonist Phil Wilson's interpretation of "It's A Lonesome Old Town" never sounded better as well as Tenor Saxophonist Sal Nistico's great sound on "Sister Sadie".
Woody's band made several recordings for the Philips label several of which are not currently available on CD. Let's hope they keep up the good work and reproduce all of them. Strongly recomended!

Wow, where do I start? As a trombonist, this was my first exposure to Phil Wilson on record. Love the coming out of nowhere intro to his solo on "Camel Walk." Just hearing how he nails that double high B flat at the end of "Lonesome Old Town" is alone worth the price of the CD.

You can still get this single CD, but all of Woody's early 1960s Philips recordings are available in one boxed set from mosaic. If you are a Woody Herman fan, getting this CD or the boxed set would be one of the best investments you would ever make!

This band is just as good, if not better, than the "Four Brothers" band and those from the 70s that included the likes of Jim Pugh, Frank Tiberi, and Andy LaVerne.

This "special packaging" of Woody Herman's Herd is outstanding.
Woody Herman won Grammy Awards in 1963 and 1964 for best Big Band Jazz albums of the year and I can understand why! Tenor sax man Sal Nistico is fabulous on the entire CD. Woody's clarinet work is effective, and it relects a time when Woody could still cut loose, before he compromised himself on the soprono sax in his later years. The arrangements are very well-written. I have the original LP and this CD is a great addition to any serious collector's library. If you can get your hands on anything in this time period, it's worth the purchase price!

Classic jazz album from 1963 has the distinction of featuring the high wailing trumpeter Bill Chase, who went on to form the rock group, Chase in the 1970's, ("Get It On"), and who died tragically in a plane crash along with several members of his band in 1978. It includes a Chase composition, "Camel Walk", along with several, familiar modern jazz numbers. Pretty standard stuff with by-the-book interpretations.