By:
FFS-Wisconsin
I have heard the future of the Four Freshmen and I love it!
In Session is a great new CD that brings listeners wonderful new arrangements of some great songs Group #22 has put in the book in the past couple of years. But one track makes history. One track is utterly unlike anything any Freshmen group has ever done. One track says Group #22 refuses to be musically content. And that one track says the Four Freshmen make music for the 21st century and for people who weren't alive when the Freshmen were founded.
"If I Had You," track 10, opens with 8 bars of traditional FF harmonies and Brian Eichenberger's lead voice. And then the chart moves to a brave new musical world.
Suddenly, the rhythm section brings a driving backbeat unlike anything we have ever heard in a Four Freshmen arrangement. "When did Max Weinberg join the Frosh?" I ask. But it isn't Mighty Max, it is Bob Ferreira pounding the skins and mixed way up! Vince Johnson's insistent bass line propels the chart forward. The listener hears the familiar Freshmen harmonies and Bob and Brian's vocals as we approach the instrumental bridge. And then all hell breaks loose!
The bridge musically transports us to New Orleans as Curtis Calderon's soaring trumpet solo with Vince comping on trombone gives us the French Quarter on a hot Saturday night. But the Frosh don't stop there with their tour de force! After 8 Bourbon Street bars (yes, pun intended) the Freshmen take the track to Memphis and echoes of the great Stax-Volt days as Brian's guitar rips through the next 8 bars. Steve Cropper lives! To borrow a phrase from Mick and Keith, I know it's only rock & roll, but I like it! Sweet Heaven, this is great stuff!
This musical approach, arrangement and mix didn't occur by accident. This is Brian's chart and Brian's mix. This is our future. This is their future. This has all the FF harmonies and all the great musicianship and it rocks! For every fan who has lamented getting younger ears to listen to the Freshmen, this will do it. Let's have more!
In Session would be a huge success if it was "If I Had You" and some filler. But the CD's 11 tracks are all killer, no filler!
Since Ken Albers retired there have been two - two! - FF vocal arrangements that have been so great, so amazing, that anyone who hears them knows instinctively that they have heard the definitive version of that song. Greg Stegeman's "Unforgettable" is one of those charts. The other is Bill Comstock's "Early Autumn." "Early Autumn" is on In Session. It takes your breath away.
Bill brought the chart to the Freshmen in 2002 at our Virginia convention. He spent a Friday afternoon working with the guys and they introduced it that night. In Session proves it has been perfected.
"Early Autumn" came out of Woody Herman's 2nd Herd in the late 1940s. Ralph Burns, the Herd's piano player and arranger, wrote it. Johnny Mercer later added lyrics and Herman is also given composer credit.
Have you ever wondered how such a hard swinging band gave us such a beautiful song? Have you ever heard a melody that more perfectly captures the title of a song? Have you ever heard a lyric that more perfectly captures the season and the mood? I haven't.
I have heard a lot of "Early Autumn" charts in my life. Nothing compares to what Bill has written. I have heard a lot of "Early Autumn" vocals in my life. Sorry, New York Voices, but the Freshmen stop hearts with this one. And thank you, Bill, for giving us such a remarkable gift. 40+ years after you began enhancing our quality of life, you are still giving us the benefit of your talent. I trust you know we are still giving you our undying affection and thanks!
One of the fun things for me is watching and listening to today's Freshmen moving through our Great American Songbook. They take ownership of these songs. Vince takes the early measures from "September Song" on Road Show and makes it a classic FF arrangement. Brian grabs Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark," mixes in Mercer's stunning lyrics and makes us wonder why the Frosh didn't do this in 1948. No matter, because it is here and now and wonderful.
It is unfair to ignore Cole Porter's "It's All Right With Me," Mercer's "Something's Gotta Give" and Bob's stunning solo (yeah, I know it's redundant) on his concert show stopper, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing." Other listeners will find new FF favorites among "My One and Only Love," "That Old Feeling" and "You've Changed." And Karen, my beloved granddaughter age 12, and her grandfather can while away the hours conferring with the flowers and listening to Brian solo on "If I Only Had a Brain." I honestly didn't think this song, which works well in concert, would work well on a studio CD. I was wrong. It is all kinds of fun.
In Session is incredible. Those of us who have always loved the Freshmen love the album. Fresh fans come lately will learn what we have been raving about. And, based on "If I Had You," there may be lots more, and lots younger, Fresh fans coming soon to an auditorium near you.
Dare I say it? Heck, yes! Rock on!
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