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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Let It Snow

There have been several inquiries about whether we are affected by the winter storms in this part of the world. Yes. My shoveling muscles are affected. Driving can be interesting. But when you wake up to sights like these, who cares if there’s a foot of snow.

Way off in the distance in the upper right is Mount Adams.

Such scenery inevitably leads to thoughts of this:

Woody Herman’s First Herd, recorded in December, 1945. The trumpet solo was by Sonny Berman, the trombone by Bill Harris. Neal Hefti’s arrangement was advanced for the time—his final chords still sound advanced—but there is no doubt that Woody’s vocal was what made the record a hit. If you’d like to hear the recording in better than 78-rpm quality, Mosaic did a splendid job of remastering it for this box set.

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Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

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