Four Brothers (jazz standard)
"Woody Herman recorded this song with his second Herd on December 27, 1947 for Columbia records. Jimmy Giuffre wrote it and arranged it based on the chord changes of 'Jeepers Creepers'. It features the reed section : three tenors and one baritone saxophone. The order of solos is Zoot Sims, Serge Chaloff, Herbie Steward, and Stan Getz. All four played in the light vibrato style of their idol, Lester Young.
The song so typifies the sound of Woody Herman's second Herd that the band is also known as the Four Brothers Band. Herman organized this incarnation of the Herd earlier in the year. Notably in the band were also Al Cohn, Gene Ammons, Lou Levy, Oscar Pettiford, Terry Gibbs, and Shelly Manne. The band had hits with "Early Autumn", and "The Goof and I" and also appeared in the movie New Orleans in 1947 with Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong.
An a cappella rendition complete with lyrics was recorded by Realtime as the title track of their 2004 cd. A vocal version was also released by The Manhattan Transfer on their 1978 album Pastiche. This version was based on the arrangement that Lambert, Hendricks and Ross used in the 1950s. Marian McPartland also recorded a live version on piano in 1959.
Anita O'Day recorded scat versions of the tune in the 1950s and 1960s, in which she took the place of one of the four saxophone players and scatted with the other three. The King Sisters, also in the 1950s and 1960s, had a version of it.
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