This set, which is the best of the Woody Herman Orchestra's Concord recordings, celebrates his 50th year as a bandleader, quite an accomplishment. No guest stars are needed for this set, which shows just how strong a big band he still had. With tenor-saxophonist Frank Tiberi gradually taking over leadership duties (today he leads the ghost Woody Herman Orchestra) and trombonist John Fedchock contributing the arrangements, the band was in fine shape even if the leader was aging. Whether it be "It Don't Mean a Thing," John Coltrane's "Central Park West" (a great arrangement) or Don Grolnick's "Pools," every selection is excellent.

With signs of a resurgence of interest in big bands in the late 1950s, Maxwell Davis came up with the idea of producing a series of albums for Crown Records recorded in the finest stereophonic sound, in a tribute to such legendary bandleaders as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman, Charlie Barnet and Stan Kenton, among others. For this purpose, he wrote all new arrangements and reimagined and conducted a number of tribute bands to perform the music with the signature spirit that made their original leaders famous. The personnel for each album consisted primarily of prominent members and soloists who performed with the original bands, with additional valuable contributions from some of the best jazz musicians working in the Hollywood and New York studios.

Woody Herman had a breakthrough during the period of time covered by Classics' third Herman CD. The Apr. 12, 1939, session yielded "Woodchopper's Ball," Herman's first hit, and it also featured "Dallas Blues," "Blues Downstairs," and "Blues Upstairs." From then on, Herman's first group would be known as "The Band That Plays the Blues." Other highlights of this enjoyable CD include four titles featuring singer Connie Boswell, the Andrews Sisters guesting on "Begin the Beguine," some vocals by Mary Ann McCall, and the tracks "The Sheik of Araby" and "Farewell Blues." Despite the lack of any major soloists (beyond the leader), things were definitely looking up by August 1939 for Herman.

This CD is quite a bit different than most audiophile releases for it contains rare rather than famous recordings. 1959's The Fourth Herd (which features an all-star group of studio musicians and Woody Herman alumni along with his octet of the time) was only put out briefly by Jazzland while the music on 1962's The New World of Woody Herman was never available commercially before; both were originally cut for the SESAC Transcribed Library and were available only to selected radio stations on a subscription basis…

To celebrate his 40th anniversary as a bandleader, Herman had a celebrated concert at Carnegie Hall. For the first half of the program he welcomed back many of his alumni including such veterans as tenors Flip Phillips, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Giuffre and Al Cohn, the Candoli brothers, trombonist Phil Wilson and singer Mary Ann McCall. Overall, the concert served as a loving tribute to a major jazz figure. The only major flaw was Herman's tendency to call out soloist's names before they finished playing, pretty much ruining this version of "Four Brothers." It was originally available as a two-LP set although the first half has since been reissued on this CD.

Fine '83 collaboration between Rosemary Clooney and the Woody Herman big band, although Herman is nearing the end of his great career. Excellent arrangements, steadfast vocals, and the usual tidy, though careful, Concord production and engineering.

While this fine double album is great to listen to, its real value is as a historical document. Bringing together the known recordings from a 1946 performance of Woody Herman and the Herd at Carnegie Hall (some of which have never been released, others of which were previously scattered across two albums), this album marks several important moments in the history of Herman's music and jazz in general. At the time of this performance, Carnegie Hall was still the exclusive bastion of classical music - though Herman's band had already played there, this performance still marked one of the first jazz concerts to be performed at the famed New York venue…