bio

Woody Herman, byname of Woodrow Charles Herman, (born May 16, 1913, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.—died October 29, 1987, Los Angeles, California), American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, bandleader, and singer who was best known as the front man for a succession of bands he dubbed “herds.”伍迪·赫尔曼，伍德罗·查尔斯·赫尔曼的绰号，（1913 年 5 月 16 日出生于美国威斯康星州密尔沃基 - 1987 年 10 月 29 日卒于加利福尼亚州洛杉矶），美国爵士单簧管演奏家、萨克斯管演奏家、乐队领队和歌手，他最出名的是作为一系列他称之为“牛群”的乐队的主唱。

Herman was a child prodigy who sang and danced in vaudeville at age six. Soon after, he began playing the saxophone and later the clarinet. Billed as the “Boy Wonder of the Clarinet,” he cut his first record, “The Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia,” at age 16. After studying music at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a term, Herman became a touring musician, joining the Tom Gerun band in 1929. In 1934 he became part of the Isham Jones Juniors; when it disbanded in 1936, Herman used its most talented sidemen to form his own ensemble, which he publicized as the “Band That Plays the Blues.” The group was propelled to stardom in 1939 with the success of “Woodchopper’s Ball.” More than a million copies of the song were sold, and it became Herman’s theme. 赫尔曼是一个神童，六岁时在杂耍中唱歌跳舞。不久之后，他开始演奏萨克斯管，后来又开始演奏单簧管。他被称为“单簧管的男孩奇迹”，在16岁时剪下了他的第一张唱片“来自佐治亚州的多愁善感的绅士”。在威斯康星州密尔沃基的马凯特大学学习音乐一段时间后，赫尔曼成为一名巡回音乐家，于 1929 年加入汤姆·格伦乐队。1934年，他成为伊沙姆琼斯青年队的一员;当它于1936年解散时，赫尔曼利用其最有才华的伙伴组建了自己的乐团，他将其宣传为“演奏蓝调的乐队”。该乐队在1939年凭借“砍柴人的球”的成功而成为明星。这首歌的销量超过一百万张，它成为赫尔曼的主题。

During the 1940s Herman’s band, then known as Herman’s Herd, was noted for its exuberance and technical brilliance. It had its own radio show, appeared in motion pictures (such as New Orleans, 1947), and in 1946 performed Igor Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto at Carnegie Hall. As did many other bandleaders after World War II, Herman dissolved his band in 1946, but within months he formed his Second Herd, featuring tenor saxophonists Zoot Sims and Stan Getz. (Getz attained stardom with his solo on Herman’s “Early Autumn.”) The band pioneered the combination of three tenor saxophones and one baritone saxophone and became identified with the song “Four Brothers,” which used that grouping. Herman at this time was also one of the few big band leaders to incorporate bebop-tinged material into his repertoire, as on the hit “Caldonia,” which featured Herman’s eccentric vocals. After the Second Herd disbanded in 1949, Herman continued to form and lead his “Thundering Herds.” 在1940年代，赫尔曼的乐队，当时被称为赫尔曼的牛群，以其旺盛和技术才华而闻名。它有自己的广播节目，出现在电影中（如新奥尔良，1947年），并于1946年在卡内基音乐厅演出了伊戈尔·斯特拉文斯基的乌木协奏曲。与二战后的许多其他乐队领队一样，赫尔曼于1946年解散了他的乐队，但在几个月内，他组建了他的Second Herd，其中包括男高音萨克斯手Zoot Sims和Stan Getz。（盖茨凭借赫尔曼的《初秋》独奏而成星。乐队率先将三个次中音萨克斯管和一个男中音萨克斯管组合在一起，并以使用该分组的歌曲“四兄弟”而闻名。此时的赫尔曼也是为数不多的将带有bebop色彩的材料融入他的曲目的大乐队领导人之一，例如热门歌曲“Caldonia”，其中Herman古怪的嗓音。1949年第二牛群解散后，赫尔曼继续组建并领导他的“雷霆牛群”。

During the 1960s and ’70s, Herman became stylistically more eclectic, using material by artists as diverse as Charles Mingus and the Beatles. He performed live concerts continuously throughout the 1970s and ’80s and in 1986 released Woody Herman and His Big Band 50th Anniversary Tour. Although his struggles with tax authorities drastically affected his later activities, he retained his reputation as a superb leader and organizer until the end. An autobiography, The Woodchopper’s Ball (cowritten with Stuart Troup), was published posthumously in 1990. 在 1960 年代和 70 年代，赫尔曼在风格上变得更加折衷，使用了查尔斯·明格斯和披头士等不同艺术家的材料。他在1970年代和80年代连续举办现场音乐会，并于1986年发行了伍迪赫尔曼和他的大乐队50周年巡回演唱会。尽管他与税务机关的斗争极大地影响了他后来的活动，但他一直保持着他作为卓越领导者和组织者的声誉，直到最后。自传《砍柴人的球》（与斯图尔特·特鲁普合著）于1990年死后出版。