Results for "Woody Herman"

Woody Herman

Active since: May 16, 1913

After early experience in Chicago with the bands led by Tom Gerun and Harry Sosnik, Woody Herman toured with Gus Arnheim. In 1934, he joined Isham Jones, and when Jones's group disbanded in 1936 Herman used its leading sidemen as the nucleus for his own orchestra. This band went through a number of changes of personnel, such as the inclusion in 1943 of Chubby Jackson and in 1944 of Neal Hefti, Ralph Burns, Flip Phillips, and Bill Harris (by the mid-1940s, under the name Herman's Herd, it was internationally famous for the force and originality of its music. Herman reformed the band in 1947, and the distinctive feature of the Second Herd was the group of saxophonists (three tenor and one baritone) who came to be known as the Four Brothers; among the musicians who played in the section were Serge Chaloff, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Gene Ammons. After the demise of the Second Herd in 1949, Herman continued to lead bands; these were perhaps less creative, but their consistently high level of musicianship assured his continuing reputation

Lou Marini: A Solo Career Starting At The Age Of 80

by Mark McKergow
August 29, 2026

Saxophonist “Blue" Lou Marini came to the fore in the 1970s as a member of the Saturday Night Live Band and with The Blues Brothers on film, albums and stage. After a lifetime as an in-demand sideman (notably 26 years and counting with James Taylor), Lou has finally started to release albums under his own name, including Playtime (Hip ...

The Warm Glow of ECM Vinyl: Tomasz Stańko, Bill Connors, and Mick Goodrick

by C. Andrew Hovan
July 20, 2026

In an oft-quoted phrase from a 1971 magazine article, ECM founder and producer Manfred Eicher described the label's ethos as “the most beautiful sound next to silence." From the start, the label's eloquent sound--captured expertly by house engineers Martin Wieland and Jan Erik Kongshaug--transferred beautifully to vinyl, and original pressings remain highly prized among collectors. So ...

Mick Goodrick: In Pas(s)ing

by Jack Kenny
July 10, 2026

Let us start with the recording itself. For this album the quality of the recording is as important as the playing. It was made at Talent Studio in Oslo by Jan Erik Kongshaug--and is typically in the style of ECM Records: spacious, detailed, each instrument given room to breathe without being isolated from its neighbor. But ...

Alan Greenspan, 1926–2026: The Reedman Who Conducted the Economy

by Kofi Adjepong-Boateng
June 26, 2026

He kept the clarinet. Sixty years after he last played for money, the central banker still had the instrument from his dance-band days; when a television crew trooped in, he turned it over in his hands but would not play it, remembering too well how it was supposed to sound. Alan Greenspan, who died ...

The Dam Jawn featuring Jeremy Pelt: Triphasic

by Artur Moral
May 15, 2026

Philadelphians know 'jawn' well--a term embedded in their local slang that is not easily grasped by the uninitiated. So what are Joan Fort and Martin Diaz (two Catalans), Philip Lewin (a German), and Nitin Parree and Frank Groenendijk (two Dutch men) doing forming a band whose name fuses that Philly word with a wink at the ...

Bob Graf

Born: April 16, 1927

Bob Graf (April 16, 1927 – August 27, 1981) was a St. Louis tenor saxophonist whose career placed him alongside some of the most celebrated names in jazz. Recommended to Count Basie by trumpeter Clark Terry, Graf performed in Basie's small group before joining Woody Herman's Third Herd, recording for both Capitol and MGM. He was a member of Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All Stars, appeared on Chet Baker's Pacific Jazz recordings in 1956, and played with Gerry Mulligan's big band in the 1960s.

His most significant recorded document is At Westminster (Delmark Records), captured live in St. Louis on January 11, 1958 — reissued on CD in 1992 as part of Delmark's Underground Heroes series and still available today. In December 1959 he performed alongside guitarist Grant Green and organist Sam Lazar at the Holy Barbarian in St. Louis. In 1958 he appeared as a performing musician on the Universal Pictures film The Big Beat.

Either/Orchestra: Nalbandian The Ethiopian

by Jim Trageser
February 11, 2026

After a decade and a half break, the always interesting Either/Orchestra is back with another compelling recording--albeit one recorded in 2011 and 2012, and only now, in 2026, seeing the light of day. Russ Gershon remains at the helm of the Either/Orchestra, and not only is this recording finally being issued, but the group ...

The Birdland Big Band at Birdland Jazz Club

by Dan Bilawsky
February 10, 2026

Happy hour on Friday is for unwinding, leaving the work week's burdens behind and--if you're lucky, and in the New York City area--catching The Birdland Big Band. That ensemble has long been holding court at its namesake club in a liminal space between afternoon and evening, filling the gap between life's structured nine-to-five commitments and the ...

Florian Ross/WDR Big Band: Plans & Drawers

by Jack Bowers
January 19, 2026

While Plans & Drawers may seem an odd name for an album of big-band jazz, the fact is that German-born composer and arranger Florian Ross had no “plans" to record before the opportunity arose to produce a second album with his home country's world-class WDR Big Band Cologne, and many of his compositions had been consigned ...