Q. What's better than a program of fifteen selections from The Great
American Songbook, sung delightfully?

A. Those same songs when delivered by a superb vocal quartet singing
brilliantly-arranged modern harmony, with excellent backup.

Usually, the quartet provides its own accompaniment, with Bob Ferreira
on drums, Vince Johnson on bass, Brian Eichenberger on guitar, and Curtis Calderon providing solos as well as backup, alternating trumpet and flugelhorn. Having heard them countless times in that manner, including two nights earlier, I decided to review their concert, which was backed by an all-star orchestra, plus a special surprise: in keeping with their album Four Freshmen and Five Trombones, they were supplemented by a quintet of sliphorns for four tunes.

A few days short of Johnny Mercer's birthday, they opened with his lyric to Rube Bloom's masterful melody, "Day In, Day Out," later adding their gorgeous "Fools Rush In," with a chilling orchestration. Of all the remarkable features characteristic of this group, their intros consisting simply of "oooohs" are absolutely hair-raising, as on "Mam'selle," "Poinciana," and "Angel Eyes."

Another unique thrill in their style is that many songs open with out-of-tempo pickup notes, and then burst into rhythm on a high chord, as on "In This Whole Wide World," or their signature tune, "It's a Blue World," which they didn't squeeze in, having so many hits to choose from.

If you recall the original group (thelast originalmember left in 1992), the brief vocal solos weren't brief enough, but in this decade-long incarnation, each of the members is a competent and pleasant soloist. When it comes to harmony, I suspect that Brian's high notes would be hardest to replace. In appearance, they still look like freshmen to this long time observer.

After endless permutations on the possible instrumental combinations over the years, they have settled on the simple instrumentation described above, using a full drum set and an acoustic bass. With such talent, a little added variety is hardly worth the logistical problems of transporting and switching the extra instruments. However, most entertainers, especially in jazz, should emulate this act by keeping numbers short, thus enabling more songs with frequent variety to be offered.

Their banter between songs is charming, often spontaneous, and features Calderon.

Choosing a powerful closing song must not be easy with so many blockbusters to their credit. They called it a day with a richly textured "Day by Day, " and encored with Bobby Troup's "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66!"

I was somewhat hoping they'd conclude with their stirring version of Bobby Troup's "Full of Spring"—" but that would surely break my heart in two!"

Eric Stevens
Cabaret Scenes
November 13, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org