Woody Herman: Goosey Gander

This track takes its name from a nursery rhyme, but don't let Woody Herman's First Herd anywhere near the nursery. True, "Goosey Gander" starts tamely enough, with Woody's clarinet waddling like a gosling, followed by Flip Phillips's casually watchful tenor sax. But then somebody wakes up Bill Harris, and the geese go a gaggle. Harris was so powerful, Woody's 3-man trombone section could out-blast Ohio State's Marching Band at halftime in Columbus. Not to be outdone, Pete "Superman" Candoli leads the trumpets blowing all-out for Truth, Justice & the American Way. If birds evolved from dinosaurs, "Goosey Gander" was Tyrannosaurus rex.