Good call, Stregoni. When I think about the Four Freshmen I think about Pete Rugolo and the Beach Boys. Even on the way Chet Baker sang, I think. The Four Freshmen's influence on the Beach Boys was obvious. Brian Wilson once said, “They had a demonstration booth where you could listen in the store and I found the Freshmen album. My mother said, ‘Do you really want to hear this?’ and I said, ‘Sure.’ So I went into the little booth and played it and fell in love with it. I love the sound of the trombones. Wonderful songs like ‘I Remember You’ and ‘Mam’selle’.” he was talking about their 1956 Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones. The band was all the solid West Coast cats: Frank Rosolino, Harry Betts, Milt Bernhart, Tommy Pederson, and George Roberts were the five trombones; Claude Williamson on piano; Barney Kessel on guitar; Joe Mondragon on bass; and Shelly Manne on drums. Of course, as you mention, Pete Rugolo did the arrangements.
I have a whole side interest around relations between barbershop and jazz, which for me personally first started with the Brian Wilson connection to The Four Freshmen. Pete Rugolo's skills in arranging the group of players that you referenced with the barbershop quartet sound is notable. Combining instruments with that kind of close harmony tends to throw a quartet's vocals off, but The Four Freshmen themselves were aware of the subtleties of the barbershop sound as they initially formed out of an Indianapolis conservatory music theory class. Separately, Rugolo also had to be aware that a barbershop quartet should stay singing in just intonation tuning for its distinctive overtones to be heard while still arranging that with instruments in other tuning systems.
Good call, Stregoni. When I think about the Four Freshmen I think about Pete Rugolo and the Beach Boys. Even on the way Chet Baker sang, I think. The Four Freshmen's influence on the Beach Boys was obvious. Brian Wilson once said, “They had a demonstration booth where you could listen in the store and I found the Freshmen album. My mother said, ‘Do you really want to hear this?’ and I said, ‘Sure.’ So I went into the little booth and played it and fell in love with it. I love the sound of the trombones. Wonderful songs like ‘I Remember You’ and ‘Mam’selle’.” he was talking about their 1956 Four Freshmen and 5 Trombones. The band was all the solid West Coast cats: Frank Rosolino, Harry Betts, Milt Bernhart, Tommy Pederson, and George Roberts were the five trombones; Claude Williamson on piano; Barney Kessel on guitar; Joe Mondragon on bass; and Shelly Manne on drums. Of course, as you mention, Pete Rugolo did the arrangements.
I have a whole side interest around relations between barbershop and jazz, which for me personally first started with the Brian Wilson connection to The Four Freshmen. Pete Rugolo's skills in arranging the group of players that you referenced with the barbershop quartet sound is notable. Combining instruments with that kind of close harmony tends to throw a quartet's vocals off, but The Four Freshmen themselves were aware of the subtleties of the barbershop sound as they initially formed out of an Indianapolis conservatory music theory class. Separately, Rugolo also had to be aware that a barbershop quartet should stay singing in just intonation tuning for its distinctive overtones to be heard while still arranging that with instruments in other tuning systems.
I got to him via his arrangements with the The Four Freshmen.