All Rise...

Appellate Judge James A. Stewart's Herd is the most swingin' accordion band in the land.

The Charge

"There's two kinds of music, good and bad, and we've tried like mad to play good mostly."—Woody Herman

The Case

For more than fifty years from 1936 to 1987, the various Woody Herman big bands succeeded at playing good jazz. Herds of musicians—that's the nickname given to Herman's band, with various tweaks over the years (The Swingin' Herd, The Thundering Herd)—took the stage, and many of them talk about the experience in Woody Herman: Blue Flame.

That's even more remarkable if you consider that Herman himself notes that the band he led had a lot of rough years: "'45 and '46 were my two biggest years. It's all been downhill since then." The documentary includes enough whole songs from various Herman drives to prove that his herds kept moving musically, through bebop and fusion back to a straight-ahead jazz sound. Even so, there's enough—Herman's troubles with the IRS, a failed New Orleans club, periods when the band just wasn't working all the time—to let viewers know it wasn't easy.

Blue Flame, which was made with the cooperation of the Woody Herman Society, aims at hardcore Herman fans, with lots of detail on the workings of the band, quite a few former Herd members talking, and a careful piecing together of the evolution of the band and the comings and goings of its musicians.

If (like me) you enjoy jazz and the big band sound but are less familiar with Woody Herman, you'll appreciate the way his story reflects the changes in music since World War II. You can get to know Herman's Herds through performance clips, not to mention the poster and album art.

As you'd expect, the quality depends on the clips, but problems are minor and rare. If you're looking for extended interviews or performances, they're not to be found here. There are no extras.

Woody Herman should be honored just for keeping a band on the road during changing times. As you'll see, they did more than that, with Herman driving them to keep fresh as well as good.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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