Woody Herman

Woody Herman (clarinetist, alto saxophonist, singer, and big band leader) was born in Milwaukee on May 16, 1913, to a Polish-born mother and a father who was an amateur singer who worked his way into an executive position with Nunn Bush shoe company. Growing up in Milwaukee, he sang, danced, and played clarinet and saxophone. As a child, he performed in theaters throughout the Midwest, billed as "The Boy Wonder."

While still a teen at St. John's Cathedral High School, he began to gravitate toward jazz, and after working with the Tom Gerun band at the Schroeder Hotel (now the Hilton Milwaukee City Center), he quit school to accept a spot with the band, going on the road in January of 1931. He established the connections that led him to form his own band, and in 1939, he had his first hit with "Woodchopper's Ball," selling about two million copies in three years.

Woody became a jazz star, leading cutting-edge big bands until his passing in 1987.

Listen to “Woodchopper’s Ball,” recorded by Woody Herman and His Orchestra in 1939. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxyj432cpwI