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Woody Herman,one of the shining lights of the big band era,has the release of 25 cuts from his 1945-47-period band,otherwise known as the First Herd and some from his Second Herd.The name"herd" was a moniker that had been kicking around the offices of "Metronome"(along with Downbeat the best source for music info) for years.It wasn't until around 1944 that the name started getting on going use in the music industry.His first well known band was referred to by many as "the band that played the blues" in the /30s and early /40s.When he switched labels from Decca to Columbia in Feb/45 he hired some of the best musicians he could find and boy what recordings came out of those sessions;and those arrangements! Fast moving and progressive swing with high end trumpets and beautiful harmonic runs,with a solid rhythmic back beat.It was the most successful band Woody ever had.Due to personal problems he disbanded the Herd in early 1947 but came back later in the year to put together another band known as the "Four Brothers" or the Second herd.Again the progressive/aggressive arrangements were on the table and the band blew with wild abandon.

For Laurence Hobgood's debut recording as a leader, he has chosen the solo piano format. It's a challenge for the most skilled of performers, but for the clearly brilliant Hobgood, it all seems as pure and natural as the driven snow of his native Chicago. Ideas easily tumble forth, rearrangements of standards sound renewed and revived, while the original material he plays is infused with a playful intensity and in many instances classical quality. His regular running mate vocalist Kurt Elling appears on four selections as crooner, wise man or surreal romantic soothsayer.

Musicians Clemens Christian Poetzsch and Sven Helbig had known each other for years. They met in 2008 at Dresden’s conservatory, where Helbig taught drums, and Poetzsch studied the piano. Soon enough, they would be playing in the same Jazz trio every Sunday at the city’s famous Blue Note club. For ten years, both would go their separate ways pursuing their distinct musical identities; Helbig delving deeper into orchestra and genre-blurring music and Poetzsch developing his solo piano work. That was until 2019 when Helbig decided to invite his old jazz mate onboard a unique project: Poetzsch plays Helbig.

Evolving from drummer and guitarist for other bands to composer and lead vocalist of Benyaro, Ben Musser has always trusted his instincts. He escaped to Jackson Hole, Wyoming from the fray of major music industry hubs that he found were spinning out generic sounds. Musser gleaned inspiration from his new surroundings, and a growing circle of contemporary artist friends, developing an authentic, unique voice.

Almost every track new to CD. Includes best-selling albums from the mid-70s. Features numerous major Jamaican hits.
Few Jamaican music makers have demonstrated greater versatility or proficiency than Lloyd Charmers, who first made his name on the Jamaican music scene as a youthful singer- songwriter in the early 60s, performing as half of the popular duo, The Charmers. Subsequent solo works along with a spell with The Uniques vocal trio ultimately led on to a move into record production. Over the years that immediately followed, his output as both a performer and producer included multiple major reggae hits, most notably Ken Boothe’s chart-topping version of ‘Everything I Own’, the success of which confirmed Charmer’s position as one of the Jamaica’s finest talents. Soon after this international best-seller, he produced works by a number of other leading Jamaican-based acts, their number including keyboard maestro Harold Butler, popular singer Dobby Dobson and the multi-talented Richard Ace - and it is these three supremely gifted artists whose work primarily comprises this collection.

Truly a musician's musician, Adam Holzman's career, visibility-wise, has waxed and waned over the keyboardist's thirty-year career, but he's never been less than busy. His time spent with Miles Davis, during the last years of the music icon's life, helped raise the masterful and broad-reaching keyboardist/producer's profile. Certainly, based on his work with jazz artists including Davis protégée Wallace Roney, Davis reissue producer/saxophonist Bob Belden, Grover Washington Jr. and Michel Petrucciani from 1989 to 2010, Holzman has kept plenty of prestigious company. And why shouldn't he? In the jazz world, he's a keyboardist with a full appreciation for its tradition, its broad and sophisticated language, and the demands made by a genre that has continued to evolve in a myriad of ways since emerging around the turn of the 20th century.

Dave Goodman, guitarist, singer and songwriter was born in Victoria B.C. Canada on March 28, 1965. The youngest of seven children, he grew up in a musical household. Starting with the violin at age 12, he quickly changed over to the electric guitar taking private lessons and playing with his older brothers. As a teenager, under the tutelage of his mentor, West Coast blues guitar master and technician Dave Vidal, he learned to play blues as well as guitar building and repair, electronics, and pickup winding. From age 15-18 while still at home he immersed himself in jazz playing with school mate (future Skywalk keyboardist) Miles Black in the Victoria clubs and jazz cafes. At age 17, Goodman was selected as best high school jazz guitarist in the province of British Columbia to play in "The Honor Jazz Ensemble“ led by Canadian Jazz legend Phil Nimmons. After graduating from high school, Dave moved to Vancouver to study jazz at Vancouver College under Bruce Clausen.