I stay overwhelmed by the amazing things that happen in our scene! I want to explain to you how one of the most storied vocal groups in jazz history started collaborating with one of the biggest voices in modern jazz and to do that we’ll have to travel back to the 1940s!
The Four Freshmen are a marquee vocal jazz group with a history reaching back over seventy years. In their heyday, the Four Freshmen were recognized as premiere purveyors of vocal jazz with ritzy big band style send ups to boot. The group continues on today with newer members but the same high standard for delivering the goods on the bandstand. And now, two of the members call the Twin Cities home! Jake Baldwin, the baritone voice and trumpet player for the group has been a Twin Cities mainstay for years and now Tommy Boynton, their guitarist and second tenor, also calls the Twin Cities home.
Given the Four Freshmen’s historical significance, it’s no surprise that they teamed up with Emmet Cohen, a modern pianist with a reverence for many different branches of jazz’s family tree. Cohen and the Four Freshmen collaborated on a collection in 2022 and now they are gearing up to release Volume 2. The combination is a match made in heaven. Cohen and his trio featuring Russell Hall and Kyle Poole conjure the strident and crisp sounds of the finest piano trios including Oscar Peterson with Brown and Thigpen and Ahmad Jamal with Crosby and Fournier. On the first single from the new release, “When You’re Smiling (Take Two),” Cohen ushers the band and vocalists in with his dexterous touch and his impeccable rhythm. After that, it’s off to the race with old-timey harmonies linking up with the world-class feel Cohen and his trio provide. The icing on the cake is when Jake Baldwin moves in with an inspired solo that shows he’s got what it takes to share the stage with a band of this caliber.
The band is in great shape, the arrangement hits all the right notes, and the singers sound like they’ve been harmonizing since 1948. . .because they have been! If classic jazz with vocals is your thing, then you’ve found your favorite album of the year!
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