Search - Woody Herman :: Herd Rides Again in Stereo

The Herd Rides Again

Bruce Bendinger | Chicago, IL United States | 04/08/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This material is on a lot of albums and there's some background that makes it a pretty interesting album. See, a bunch of guys who'd been in Woody's band were playing these charts for fun in New York - Ernie Royal (the incredible lead trumpeter who inspired Woody to start the Second Herd), Al Cohn (who contributed a few charts), Don Lamond, the drummer in the First and Second Herds, and Bob Brookmeyer (who plays the second best version of Bijou ever recorded), and others. So, Woody doesn't have a band right then, but hey, everyone is enjoying the charts, these are now some of the top top studio guys in New York and why not. So they all get into a studio and record this album. It's really nice - great charts, great players, everyone is relaxed and having a fine time. Check it out. Again, you can also find many of these tracks on other albums (there's another that is on NetRadio's Big Band Channel all the time) - the way to find out is if "It's Coolin'Time" is on the album, this is it. By the way, that's a first rate Al Cohn chart and this was, I think, the only time it got recorded. 'Nuff said.Bruce Bendinger - Woody Herman Fan"