There's nothing silly or corny about the music. The highlights occur pretty much whenever Vaughan is singing, her precise phrasing and impressive range stealing the show. A swinging "Day In, Day Out" kicks things off in energetic fashion. Her tender handling of "I'll Be Seeing You" is a show stopping stand-out. Herman has his share of moments, too. After some teasing and prodding, he even takes the mic for a lead vocal on "Don't Go With Strangers." Vaughan mentions that much can be learned by observing the breathing technique of a musician who also sings. She was being serious, but Block just razzes Herman even more.
I didn't know he sometimes sang, so I was surprised to hear a capable (if a bit nasally) vocal performance. Horace Silver's "The Preacher" closes out the disc, and it features some pretty wild soloing from various members of Herman's Herd. There's hardly a happier feel-good tune in jazz, so "The Preacher" makes a fine finale.
Acrobat Music has done a good deed in keeping the music of a bygone era alive. The sound quality is better than you might expect from 45 year old recordings, clear enough during some numbers to hear background noise. "At the Woodchopper's Ball" features this oddly distracting chatter. I'm not sure if it was meant to simulate the sound of a live club or if there were just too many people in the radio studio. It doesn't really present a problem though, most of the recordings are technically fine. On The Radio: The 1963 'Live' Guard Sessions is a solid hour of entertainment from two of the legendary greats, Sarah Vaughan and Woody Herman.
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