Known as "the band that plays the blues," this album extracts blues-based tunes from two sessions by the 1955/56 incarnations of the Woody Herman Band, one in Hollywood and the other in Chicago. Most of the tunes were made famous by others like
Bertha "Chippie" Hill,
Louis Armstrong,
Joe Williams, and
Count Basie, and they get more than a respectable reading by
Herman's outfit. Although not quite up to the standards of the great "herd" bands of the 1940s, this group was not that far behind. With arrangements by
Nat Pierce,
Ralph Burns, and
Manny Albam played by musicians like
Cy Touff (one of the few practitioners of the bass trumpet), Vic Feldman, tenor man
Richie Kamuca, trombonist
Bill Harris, and
Herman himself.
Herman typically gave himself modest solo time, letting his good players take up those cudgels.
Herman limits himself to two clarinet solos, on "Basin Street Blues" and "Blues Groove," but sings on most cuts. The gifted trombonist,
Bill Harris, is given the major time in the solo spotlight being especially inventive on "Trouble in Mind" and "I Want a Little Gir.l" There are other good individual efforts by Kamuca, vibes player Vic Feldman and trumpeter Johnny Coppola.