Customer Reviews

5 Trombones & 5 Trumpets

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Discovered by bandleader Stan Kenton in a small midwestern lounge in the fifties, The Four Freshmen became one of the most successful vocal groups in recorded history and these two Capitol recordings from the fifties are the "Freshmen" at their best. The "Five Trombones", is a marvelous blending of the quartet's voices and the mellow tones generated by five of the finest trombone players available. The "Five Trumpets" with the Freshmen is another stellar album. These guys were great, they played their own instuments and worked out the most impressive harmonies ever. This is not barbershop-this is hip and enjoyable musicianship. If you've never heard them before, after you listen to a sample, you may think that you are listening to The Beach Boys in their heyday-Brian Wilson was a huge fan and wanted to emulate the unique sound of The Four Freshman. Do yourself a favor, invite the "Freshmen" into your home.

I was so pleased to find this CD. It has some of their best stuff, and I can just close my eyes and drift back to the days when music meant something more substantial than drums and guitars. I just joined their fan club to help support the continuation of the sound. I guess I was really inspired. Great album!

After years of doing their own accompaniment, the Four Freshmen & Five Trombones was the FF's first album with an orchestral backup - as well as arrangements by Pete Rugulo (who arranged many of Stan Kenton's early classics). I loved the album when it was first released on vinyl - in the spring of 1956 - and still love it today. The Freshmen renditions of "I Remember You" and "Angel Eyes" are the best I've heard by any artist. The album did well and was soon followed by the Five Trumpets album. In that collection "Goodbye" mournfully drags along, but snappy versions of "Easy Street" and "Got a Date With an Angel" add delight and verve to yet another triumph in jazz vocalization.

Four Freshmen albums are being rereleased as twofers!

Five Trombones was their most popular LP.

These are great arrangements of great melodies.

At times, listening to this wonderful "twofer," I thought I had stumbled across some undiscovered Brian Wilson music. Wilson is very open in acknowledging the Freshmen as the inspiration for his arrangement of harmonies - and now I can see how and why.
These guys are simply superb, and the songs are as relevant and listenable today as they were way back then.
In very accessible form, this is wonderful music to have on the shelf, and more than occasionally on the player.

The Freshmens' harmonies transform tunes like "The Night We Called It a Day" and "There Will Never Be Another You" into quixotically uplifting listening adventures. All the songs, really, are impeccably performed; this group was the finest of its kind for my money. (By the way, the group still exists in the form of a quartet of young replacements -- it's a kind of Menudoization but the new guys replicate the original group's sound pretty well and are worth a listen.) Anyway, reserve an evening for this classic collection and wallow in the tremendous arrangements and the pure sonic richness.

The Four Freshmen were at their freshest during their early recordings with Capitol Records. These two are among their finest albums.

I'm so happy to have found this CD. It replaces my old vinyl album.

Great quality - Daddy was thrilled!!! I was shocked how quickly I got it - perfect timing too. Father's Day.

I remember this as an LP in the late 50's and had almost forgotten it. Then someone mentioned the song, 'I Remember You' (Referring to the Frank Ifield version) - and I said, "You ain't heard it in all its full glory until you have heard The Four Freshmen". That's when I looked on 'Amazon' and there it was . . . Remastered. Great joy! I just love ALL the tracks and the quality arrangements; the (sometimes) mellow brass and (at other times) thier really 'sassy' sound. The remastering has brought new life and will be a treasured addition to my CD collection.