Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Apple Honey
2. Caldonia
3. Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe
4. Goosey Gander
5. Northwest Passage
6. Good Earth
7. Bijou
8. Your Father's Moustache
9. Wildroot
10. Blowin' up a Storm
11. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
12. Igor
13. Fan It
14. Lost Weekend
15. Ebony Concerto
16. Sidewalks of Cuba
17. Lady McGowan's Dream, Pt. 1
18. Lady McGowan's Dream, Pt. 2

Disc 2:

1. Summer Sequence, Pt. 1
2. Summer Sequence, Pt. 2
3. Summer Sequence, Pt. 3
4. Everywhere
5. Back Talk
6. Someday, Sweetheart
7. Woodchopper's Ball
8. Blue Flame
9. Kean and Peachy
10. Goof and I
11. Four Brothers
12. Summer Sequence, Pt. 4
13. Apple Honey [Take 2]
14. Caldonia
15. Goosey Gander [Take 2]
16. Northwest Passage [Take 2]
17. Good Earth [Take 2]
18. Bijou [Take 3]
19. Wildroot [Take 4]
20. Back Talk [Take 2]
21. Kean and Peachy [Take 2]
22. Summer Sequence, Pt. 4 [Take 2]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67903 in Music
• Released on: 2001-06-26
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
Columbia's sprawling new two-disc Woody Herman retrospective, Blowin' Up a Storm!, isn't the most comprehensive look at one of the Swing Era's most beloved bands, as it only covers the Columbia years of 1945-47 and leaves out the string of hits Herman had for Decca in the preceding years. But, as the 40 tracks here will attest, this is unquestionably Herman's best material, showcasing the power and polish that led one contemporary critic to dub the group "Herman's Herd." While the set includes many of the vocal hits that kept Herman a household name at the time--such as "Caledonia," "Apple Honey," and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"--jazz fans will probably be more interested in the extraordinary level of playing that elevated the group above most swing bands of its day. Disc two in particular features some of the finest performances recorded by the band, with Stan Getz and Zoot Sims blowing through Jimmy Giuffre's classic "Four Brothers" and pianist-arranger Ralph Burns's four-part "Summer Sequence" showcasing the many facets of the band one by one--the precision and balance of the horn section, the rock-solid swing, and the inimitable tenor stylings of Getz. Perhaps the most interesting cut of all though, is the group's historic 1946 collaboration with composer Igor Stravinsky, "Ebony Concerto," a gorgeous eight-minute piece conducted by the composer himself that showed that this was one herd that could do more than just rumble. --Ezra Gale

Customer Reviews

A missed opportunity
Michael Gilchrist (see above) rightly says "If Columbia was going to all this trouble, why not go for 100% instead of 90%?" I have to add that there several mistakes in these otherwise highly recommended CDs. The takes of both "The Good Earth" and "Summer Sequence, part IV" marked as alternates (CD2, #17 & #22) are actually the ones originally issued, and vice versa (check the tenor sax solos to spot the difference). Furthermore, the two Bijou takes included (CD1, #7 and CD2, #18) are both alternates, and thus the classic Bill Harris solo has been left out this compilation.

Long-awaited Woody Columbias
Woody Herman, big band and jazz collectors in general have long awaited this reissue release and will welcome what is arguably the most exciting big band music ever recorded. All the classics are there, along with often quite different, previously unissued takes, plus some interesting background comment from original participant Ralph Burns. One did hope, of course, following the earlier miserly 1988 effort by Columbia, that we might even eventually get a ‘complete’ edition of all the Woody Columbias in a 4 CD box, with all the extra takes, etc. Everything from this period is worth reissuing. This 2 CD set, while excellent, is obviously a compromise. However understandable this might be, what is very disappointing is that with 75 plus minutes available on CDs, Orrin Keepnews, who produced the set, settled for well under this time frame. There was ample room for another half dozen classics at least. Why weren’t Non-Alcoholic, Panacea, Laura, and more of the Woodchoppers slipped in as well? If Columbia was going to all this trouble, why not go for 100% instead of 90%? Even so, what we have here is desert island stuff for the jazz fan. The sound is ear-shattering, enabling us to hear Apple Honey, Wild Root, etc, almost as if for the first time. Absolutely brilliant!

Good music, But Columbia could have done better
Great band, Great music of course, but there's alot more there than what you're hearing. This is the 5th Columbia Cd of Woody Herman, and all 5 CDs have just about the same tunes on them! Jazz fans, Big Band fans, Woody Herman fans, deserve something better than this! Do you think that Elvis Presley and Beatles fans would be satisfied with 5 almost-identical "Greatest Hits" CDs of their favorite artists? NEVER! Back in 1948, Columbia got the bright idea of coming out with the long-playing record, But when it came to re-issues, they would release only one side of the original records, and when it came to people like Woody Herman, it would be "instrumentals only". The same philosophy is true today. Too bad Columbia didn't ask me to produce this CD. I would have included the "flip-sides" never reissued like "Out of This World", "June Comes Around Every Year", "No Time", "You've Got Me Crying Again","If Its Love You Want", "Stars Fell On Alabama","Swing Low Sweet Clarinet"(a personal favorite!),"My Pal Gonzales",and others. Not only that, I've would have also released the still-unissued studio recordings of "Mean to Me", "They Went That-A-Way", and I'll guess I'll never hear Woody's version of "Anniversary Song". I would have done this rather than release those substandard alternate takes! Too Bad.