[Dixielandjazz] Re: Ted Lewis & Woody Herman

[Stephen Barbone]

Stan Brager wrote:

> Ralph Burns was the name of Woody's longtime arranger.

Yes, right on. Thank you for supplying the name of this great man.

> Regarding Woody's playing, I've never heard or read any disparaging remarks
> about Woody's clarinet or alto sax playing or singing. To the contrary, many
> have commented how well he plays.

Really?  Perhaps it's a generational thing. My contemporaries are all in their
70s and there seems to be general agreement among them that Woody Herman was
not one of the better musicians around. They also agree that his genius lay in
forming great bands composed of some pretty damn fine musicians and those
Burn's arrangements were terrific. Hence the "joke".

Cheers,
Steve Barbone