Woody Herman At Carnegie Hall (1946) by Woody Herman & The Herd

09 Sep

Written by Ron Meyers
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Being a Woody Herman fan I eagerly awaited my copy of this two CD set from Verve. IT'S A DISASTER.

If there is an award for the worst re-mastering job on CD then this album gets my vote for 1999's worst.

Imagine waiting for the Herd that contained Shorty Rogers, Conrad Gozzo, Sonny Berman and Pete Candoli in the trumpet section plus Bill Harris, Red Norvo, Billy Bauer and Flip Philips and then hearing surface noise, in one or two places you actually hear the needle fall on the record, clicking, pops, hisses and to make matters worse the recording, recorded at Carnegie Hall, is so muffled that it sounds like it was recorded from the men's room at Carnegie Hall.

The final indignity is that the back sleeve has the audacity to say "Meticulous Restoration".

The Verve sound people responsbile for this one should all hide their heads in shame. Shame on you Verve for destroying cherished memories!