Tenor saxophone great Frank Tiberi is joined by former members of the Woody Herman Orchestra for this updated version of the famous "Four Brothers" sound. Frank is joined by Larry McKenna on tenor, John Nugent on tenor, Mike Brignola on baritone, David Berkman on piano, Lynn Seaton on bass, and Matt Wilson on drums.
MUSICIANS:
Frank Tiberi- Tenor and Soprano Saxophones
Larry McKenna- Tenor Saxophone
John Nugent- Tenor Saxophone
Mike Brignola-Baritone Saxophone
David Berkman- Piano
Lynn Seaton- Bass
Matt Wilson- Drums
The mere mention of the term "Four Brothers" flashes one to a familiar and fabled edition of Woody Herman's Orchestras-"The Second Herd", often called "The Four Brothers Band". Its concept and sound was derived from Jimmy Giuffre's piece entitled "Four Brothers"-a three tenor and one baritone saxophone voicing; it was first recorded December 27, 1947 with Stan Getz, Herbie Steward, Zoot Sims and Serge Chaloff respectively. As a signature power tune, the Herman big band has been playing it each night for over half a century.
It was sheer coincidence that "the four of us had all played in the Herman sax section and oddly each of us had joined the band at different times," observes Brignola. The intervals were spaced about ten years between one another-McKenna in the late 50's, Tiberi in 1969, Brignola in 1980, and Nugent in 1987. Brignola added: "When we put the rhythm section together, we did not intentionally recruit Woody guys, but (ironically) Dave Berkman, Lynn Seaton and Matt Wilson all played in the Herman band during the 1980's." So it's natural much of the music is driven by the aura of Herman.
An intriguing aspect of the Four Brothers concept is the broad range of personal expression it covers within the wide array of distinct personalities, and yet they blend so coherently. As a Herman syndrome, it has been successful in both capitalizing and resolving the degree of eccentricity and departures between the different soloists; e.g., on this CD from McKenna's straight ahead to Tiberi going from Cohn to Coltrane, stretching the boundaries on both ends.
