''The Four Brothers Sound'' is an album by American jazz composer and arranger

Jimmy Giuffre James Peter Giuffre (, ; April 26, 1921 – April 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He is known for developing forms of jazz which allowed for free interplay between the musicians, anticipating f ...

, released on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

label in 1959. The album features Giuffre's tenor saxophone overdubbed four times to recreate the distinctive sound of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers" band.Jimmy Giuffre Catalog
accessed July 6, 2015

Reception

Brandon Burke of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

writes: "The effect of this overdubbing process is, while sonically challenging, unlikely to alienate listeners who are not fully immersed in experimental jazz... ''''Four Brothers Sound'' is proof that the term avant-garde needn't always be associated with harsh dissonance. This is a very enjoyable set".

Track listing

''All compositions by Jimmy Giuffre except as indicated'' # " Four Brothers" - 3:23 # "Ode to Switzerland" - 4:44 # "Blues in the Barn" - 4:46 # "Space" - 3:31 # "

I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" is a popular song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Ted Koehler, published in 1932 for the Broadway show '' Earl Carroll's Vanities'' (1932). The song has become a jazz and blues standard. Popular recordin ...

" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but ...

) - 3:26 # "

Come Rain or Come Shine "Come Rain or Come Shine" is a popular music song and jazz standard with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was written for the Broadway musical '' St. Louis Woman'', which opened on March 30, 1946, and closed after 113 perfor ...

" (Arlen,

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

) - 2:07 # "Memphis in June" (

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard "Hoagy" Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor, author and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s and 1940s, a ...

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United S ...

) - 3:31 # "Cabin in the Sky" (

Vernon Duke Vernon Duke ( 16 January 1969) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter who also wrote under his birth name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for " Taking a Chance on Love," with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940), "I ...

, John La Touche) - 2:57 # " Old Folks" (Dedette Lee Hill,

Willard Robison Willard Robison (September 18, 1894 – June 24, 1968) was an American vocalist, pianist, and composer of popular songs, born in Shelbina, Missouri. His songs reflect a rural, melancholy theme steeped in Americana and their warm style has ...

) - 2:22 *Recorded at Atlantic Studios, NYC on June 23, 1958 (track 6), June 25, 1958 (track 2) and Lenox, MA on September 1, 1958 (tracks 1, 3-5 & 7-9)

Personnel

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

* Jim Hall -

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(tracks 1, 3-5 & 7-9) *

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombone, valve trombonist, Jazz piano, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

(tracks 1, 3-5 & 7-9)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Brothers Sound, The Jimmy Giuffre albums 1959 albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Nesuhi Ertegun