Title: The Band That Plays the Blues: 1937-1941 Artist: Woody Herman Release Date: 7/17/2001 Label: Naxos, Naxos Jazz Album Type(s): Greatest Hits UPC: 636943252727 Genre: Jazz Styles: Big Band, Swing Moods: Earthy, Exuberant, Rollicking, Amiable/Good-Natured, Boisterous, Elegant, Joyous, Playful, Refined/Mannered, Sophisticated, Stylish, Cheerful, Complex, Energetic, Freewheeling, Party/Celebratory, Passionate Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Woodchopper's Ball
2. Blue Flame
3. Dupree Blues
4. Twin City Blues
5. Laughing Boy Blues
6. Casbah Blues
7. Blues Upstairs
8. Blues Downstairs
9. River Bed Blues
10. Dallas Blues
11. Calliope Blues
12. Peach Tree Street
13. Blue Prelude
14. Pick-A-Rib
15. Bessie's Blues
16. Bishop's Blues
17. Blues in the Night
18. Blues on Parade

Year Type Label Catalog # 2001 CD Naxos 8120527 2001 CD Naxos Jazz 8120527

No other editions were found for this album.

True to its word, this bargain-priced survey of Woody Herman's first band is right on message; all but three of the 18 tracks have "blues" or "blue" in the title. As such, it succeeds in surveying that aspect of the Herman band from early sessions in 1937 to September 1941 on the eve of the AF of M recording ban. Among the rarer treats here is the unusual "Calliope Blues," with its radical (for the time) use of a flute choir. On the last session covered here, the band made a famous cover version of Harold Arlen's standard-to-be "Blues in the Night," and you can hear the composer chime in as he answers Herman's lead vocal. Typically, Naxos scrambles the chronological order of the survey, but any sure-fingered listener can correct that by using the programming control. In one seamless sleight-of-hand editing feat, "Blues Upstairs" and "Blues Downstairs" -- the A and B sides of a Decca 78 -- are joined together without a pause; even the cymbal crash that ends "Upstairs" carries over into the piano intro of "Downstairs." Furthermore, Naxos' transfers, although somewhat subdued, are closer to the original 78s in sound than Decca/GRP's brash, NoNoised versions of some of these tracks on the 1991 CD Blues on Parade (even though, in a few cases, Decca had access to better sources). And Naxos has corrected the pitch of the original 78s that were faulty, which Decca did not do in its transfers -- one more pertinent reason to pick up this release. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide

Name Credits Bob Price Trumpet Bruce Wilkins Sax (Tenor) Bud Smith Trombone Cappy Lewis Trumpet Chick Reeves Guitar Clarence Willard Trumpet David Lennick Transfers, Producer Don Watt Sax (Alto) Eddie Scalzi Sax (Alto) Frank Carlson Drums Graham Newton Digital Noise Reduction Harold Arlen Vocals Herb Tompkins Sax (Alto) Herbie Haymer Sax (Tenor) Horace Diaz Piano Hy White Guitar Jack Ferrier Sax (Alto) Jerry Neary Trumpet Jerry Rosa Trombone Jimmy Horvath Sax (Alto) Joe Bishop Flugelhorn Joe Denton Sax (Alto) John Owens Trumpet Joseph Estren Sax (Alto) Kermit Simmons Trumpet Malcolm Crain Trumpet Mickey Folus Sax (Tenor) Murray Williams Sax (Alto) Neal Reid Trombone Nick Caiazza Sax (Tenor) Nick Hupfer Violin Oliver Matthewson Guitar Pete Johns Sax (Tenor) Peter Dempsey Liner Notes Ray Hopfner Sax (Alto) Ray Linn Trumpet Ron Hoares Design Sam Rubinwich Sax (Alto) Sammy Armato Sax (Tenor) Saxie Mansfield Sax (Tenor) Steady Nelson Trumpet, Vocals Sunny Skylar Vocals Tobee Tyler Trombone Tommy Linehan Piano Vic Hamann Trombone Walter Yoder Bass Woody Herman Clarinet, Vocals, Sax (Alto), Main Performer Woody Herman & His Orchestra Performer