Herman Edward Sherman, Sr. (June 28, 1923 – September 10, 1984), was an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader.
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in blues and ragtime. Jazz is seen by many as "America's classical music". Since the 1920s Jazz Age, jazz has become recognized as a major form of musical expression. It then emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African-American and European-American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
Sherman was born in New Orleans. He played clarinet in high school and later picked up alto and tenor sax. He began working with brass bands on the New Orleans jazz scene around 1940, playing in the Eureka Brass Band, the Onward Brass Band, and the Young Tuxedo Brass Band. He took over the leadership of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band in 1971 until his death in 1984, and during his tenure the group toured the United States repeatedly and appeared in Berlin in 1980. He led the ensemble in the studio for their 1983 release Jazz Continues on 504 Records. Sherman occasionally played in dance bands, but concentrated on his work in brass bands. He died in his home city of New Orleans.
New Orleans is a consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of Louisiana. With an estimated population of 393,292 in 2017, it is the most populous city in Louisiana. A major port, New Orleans is considered an economic and commercial hub for the broader Gulf Coast region of the United States.
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands, but may more correctly termed military bands, concert bands, or "brass and reed" bands.
Dixieland, sometimes referred to as hot jazz or traditional jazz, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century.
