Woody Herman Orchestra: 184th NDR Jazz Workshop Hamburg 1983

Woody Herman Orchestra
recorded live at NDR Studio 10, Hamburg, November 30, 1983

1. Blue Flame (Bishop/ Ray Noble)
2. Things Ain't What They Used To Be (Duke Ellingon)
3. Four Brothers (Jimmy Giuffre)
4. Early Autumn (Burns)
5. Come Rain or Come Shine (Howard Arlen/ Johnny Mercer)
6. Perdido (Juan Tizol/ Duke Ellington)
7. I Got News For You (Roy Alfred)
8. Count Down (John Coltrane)

No other bandleader in the history of jazz had the staying power of Woody Herman. From the Band That Plays the Blues, Herman’s first ensemble, organized in 1936, through the many "Herds" that came and went from the 1940s to the 1980s, Herman managed to maintain vitality in his big bands as others ran out of steam and dropped out of the race. There were two keys to Herman’s success. First, he continuously hired talented young players and arrangers. Second, he refused to lead a nostalgia band that played only hits of the past. The result was an ensemble that was always fresh and exciting, musically sharp, and—especially notable from the 1960s on, as rock music was eclipsing jazz—popular.

Herman’s bands were always characterized by their rhythmic drive and intensity and by the enthusiasm of the players. In Herman’s autobiography, jazz critic Gene Lees is quoted as saying that "Woody had an astonishing capacity to spot talent before it was particularly obvious to anybody else … the list of careers that he either made or advanced is staggering." Herman’s personnel lineup over the years reads like an index to jazz, including such notables as sax players Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, and Flip Phillips; trumpeters Shorty Rogers, Pete and Conte Candoli, and Sonny Berman; trombonists Bill Watrous, Jim Pugh, and Bill Harris; pianists Ralph Burns and Jimmy Rowles; vibraphonists Milt Jackson, Red Norvo, Marjorie Hyams, and Terry Gibbs; bassists Oscar Pettiford and Chubby Jackson; and drummers Dave Tough, Shelley Manne, and Ed Soph.

In 1982 the band released the album "World Class" on Concord. As with most of the Woody Herman Orchestra's recordings for Concord, this set (taken from concerts in Japan) welcomes guests from Herman's past. In this case tenors Al Cohn, Med Flory, Sal Nistico and Flip Phillips get to star on half of the eight selections including a remake of "Four Brothers" and Phillips's "The Claw." Phillips has an opportunity to reprise his famous Jazz at the Philharmonic solo on "Perdido."