DESCRIPTION:
Renowned jazz critic Leonard Feather wrote of Woody Herman's band from this period:
"In 1943-1944 the band took on a modernist tinge and became the first white orchestra conspicuously influenced by bebop. Neal Hefti and Ralph Burns played and arranged in the band at this time; Bill Harris and Flip Phillips were featured soloists, and the rhythm section, one of the happiest teams of its kind in modern jazz history, included Billy Bauer, guitar; Chubby Jackson, bass; Dave Tough and later Don Lamond on drums".
Leonard Feather on Bill Harris: "The qualities that combined to make Harris' style provocatively new were his tone, which sometimes gave one the impression of listening to him through a veil; his vibrato, slow and mournful on ballad performances; and his savage attack and choppy rhythmic alternation of strong and weak accents on the faster tempi." (Leonard Feather, "The Book of Jazz")