Woody Herman - 1963

Woody Herman was one of the greatest big band leaders of the swing era. He always pushed the envelope, playing new tunes live and constantly developing new styles. Not all of these experiments worked, but this 1963 effort certainly did. Herman had only been with the Philips label for a year before he released this album, featuring Bill Chase on trumpet, Phil Wilson on trombone, Nat Pierce on piano and Sal Nistico on tenor sax. This is classic jazz, with some takes on music written by Duke Ellington (Don’t Get Around Much Any More), Horace Parlan (Blues For JP) and Horace Silver (Sister Sadie).