Product Details

• Actors: Woody Herman & His Swinging Herd
• Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Video Artists Int'l
• DVD Release Date: September 6, 2005
• Run Time: 55 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000A9QL0E
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #38,635 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Big Band, November 9, 2005

By	Ronald K. Goodenow (Northboro, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A set of performances (filmed in black and white) on Canadian television, this is Woody Herman at his finest, featuring Nat Pierce, Jake Hannah, Bill Chase, Sal Nistico and other big band heavies. I don't know what was in the Canadian air, but these guys groove with tight fiery swinging arrangements (mainly by Pierce)and a heck of a lot of very fine solo work. I saw the Herman band at about the time of these performances and still remember its vitality and, especially, the solos of Sal Nistico, a post-bobbing swinger of a tenor sax if there ever was one. Herman was a mavel of the US music business, keeping his band alive and well for decades. In terms of production values, the performances were tightly scripted and feature fine camera work and very good sound. One of the best big band dvd's I've seen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Woody Hermann and His Swingin' Herd 1964, March 22, 2007

By	Gernot Sachs - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Eine wunderbare Musik DVD. Man fühlt sich wieder zurück versetzt in die gute alte Swing-Zeit der 40er und 50er Jahre. Woody Herman ist einfach Spitze.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great big band music with great soloists, February 28, 2009

By	Patrick Nava "PatLab" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

The mellow arrangement of "Days Of Wine And Roses" spotlights the beautiful trumpet solo of Danny Nolan; which is among his finest and most lyrical. The finger-snapping "Sidewalks Of Cuba" showcase a standout trumpet solo by Danny Nolan leading to the bari sax of Nick Brignola, with Woody's always great clarinet closing it out. The smooth tenor of Carmen Leggio is featured in "The Good Earth"

Woody's lyrical alto sax is showcased in the standard "Body And Soul." As is Jackie Stevens' liquid tenor sax in the famous "Early Autumn." Phil Wilson displays his blowing talents in his imaginative solo work on "Lonesome Old Town."

You gotta' love the uptempo charts "That's Where It Is" and "Apple Honey" with Sal Nistico showing off his usual blazing tenor sax.
And what Herman performance wouldn't be complete without "The Four Brothers"? Happy solos by all the saxes. The closer; "Caldonia" at a break-neck tempo, features just about everyone.

Of course, Bill Chase's screeching, stratospheric trumpet is featured throughout, and can't be ignored. As a funny aside to Bill Chase - you'll notice many times during the taping, Bill adjusting his tie while looking at the monitor. Those high-note specialists need to loosen their ties when hitting those octaves; but he also realizes that he must remain uniform with the rest of the band.

No, you can't turn back the hands of time, but looking back at a more subtle