Harry Allen's All Star New York Saxophone Band - The Candy Men (2016)

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Harry Allen's All Star New York Saxophone Band - The Candy Men (2016)

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The legendary Four Brothers reed section of Woody Herman's famous "Second Herd" big band of 1947, (Herbie Steward, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz and Serge Chaloff) is reimagined and reinvigorated by jazz icons Harry Allen, Eric Alexander, Grant Stewart and Gary Smulyan on the exciting, swinging and audacious recording of The Candy Men by Harry Allen's All Star New York Saxophone Band. Offering a sensational set of twelve bop-infused tunes containing some hard-driving, mid-tempo swing pieces to breathy and bossa-styled ballads, one sampling of this disc is just not enough. The material and the musicianship is so outstanding, that the late, great bandleader Woody Herman himself, would be proud of the way this group of jazz icons, has so elegantly represented the original Brothers section.

Three tenors and one baritone saxophone produce a powerful sound especially when joining forces to harmonize melodies as so often demonstrated here. The foursome is accompanied by Rossano Sportiello on piano, Joel Forbes on bass and Kevin Kanner on the drums—all forming one vibrant septet that shine on every note. The music opens up in swinging fashion on Jimmy Giuffre's "Four Brothers" tribute piece using Al Cohn's arrangement of the classic which bring out each sax man's distinctive voice. The tenor men take on a slinky, mid-tempo swinger on Allen's "The One for You" featuring a burning solo from Smulyan followed by a little tenor madness from Allen and the others.

While there's a lot of swing on this album, Allen and crew do present a softer side with such warm ballads as the brief "How are Things in Glocca Morra?," Dorothy Parker's "I Wished On the Moon," the Rodgers and Hart classic "Nobody's Heart" and the delicate bossa-tinged "I Can See Forever," one of the show pieces of the recording. But, of course, the group gets back to the meat of the set on the Gerry Mulligan / Zoot Sims composition "Red Door" where the group lets it all hang out on one torrid power play after another featuring the tenors and Smulyan sounding off in dynamic style.

Offering the inspiration for the title of the album, the Leslie Bricusse / Anthony Newley pop standard "The Candy Man," best remembered as a 1972 hit by Sammy Davis Jr., takes on an Allen arrangement that highlights the leader on the main solo. Rounding out the music, is a lively, up tempo swinger "So There," an Allen original penned for a previous recording perfect for a saxophone summit, followed by the appropriately titled, "The Party's Over" as the finale piece.

Leader Harry Allen and the rest of the high-powered reed section featured on The Candy Men, capture well the magic of the original Four Brothers section and set themselves apart by providing a few tricks of their own that make their sound, distinctive and mesmerizing.

Review by Edward Blanco, All About Jazz

At times, there is something to be said for glancing backward while moving forward, for saluting the past while embracing the present. In 1973, the Carpenters recorded another in a long series of hit songs, "Yesterday Once More," which noted how the past often parallels the present. Sometimes revisiting bygone days is a good thing; at other times, not so much. On his new album The Candy Men, tenor saxophonist Harry Allen delves even further into the murkiness of time to reclaim his "yesterday," modeling the ensemble's "all-star" reed section on the three-tenor-plus-baritone-sax framework made popular by Woody Herman's Second Herd in 1947-48 and generally known in musical circles as the "Four Brothers sound." Is that a good thing? Opinions may vary, but here is one unequivocal "yes" vote.

Allen raises the curtain, appropriately enough, with the iconic "Four Brothers," using not Jimmy Giuffre's classic chart but an arrangement by Al Cohn written for a later album, The Four Brothers . . . Together Again! While the solo order on various tracks isn't disclosed on the jacket or in Marc Myers' otherwise splendid liner notes, the ultra-smooth Allen and baritone Gary Smulyan are rather easy to pinpoint, and while tenors Grant Stewart and Eric Alexander are far closer in phrasing and perception, they too can be separated with due diligence. On "Four Brothers," the order seems to be Stewart, Allen, Alexander and Smulyan, after which everyone trades fours. Allen arranged every other track, starting with his own mid-tempo groover, "The One for You," on which the familiar Four Brothers sound precedes engaging solos by Smulyan, Alexander, Stewart and Allen (in that order; fingers crossed).

There's an "Early Autumn" vibe to the lovely ballad "How Are Things in Glocca Morra," a Bill Holman-inspired ambience to "After You've Gone" (not unlike the high-voltage chart Holman wrote for the Herman Herd in the mid-50s). Pianist Rossano Sportiello and drummer Kevin Kanner take their first solos here, proving that the term "all-star" doesn't apply merely to the saxophones. Indeed, the rhythm section (Sportiello, Kanner, bassist Joel Forbes) is sharp and persuasive throughout. Alexander is especially inspired on "I Wished on the Moon" and another of Allen's originals, the earnestly swinging "Blues in the Morning," which lead to the opulent "I Can See Forever," co-written by Allen and frequent collaborator Judy Carmichael (who also co-authored "The One for You").
And what would a Four Brothers salute be without at least one song by the great Zoot Sims? The gem chosen here is Sims / Gerry Mulligan's "The Red Door," a seductive swinger with solos to match by the reeds and Sportiello. There's more of the same on "The Candy Man" (a huge hit for Sammy Davis Jr. back in the day), Allen's breezy, Cohn-like "So There," Rodgers and Hart's plaintive "Nobody's Heart (Belongs to Me)" and the gently loping finale, "The Party's Over," introduced by the incomparable Judy Holliday in the Broadway smash Bells Are Ringing. While the reason for its title isn't laid bare, there's no doubt that The Candy Men is one sweet album from start to finish. As for the designation "all-star," one's customary reaction is to reach for the nearest grain of salt. No need for that here, as Allen's all-stars more than warrant the name. An appetizing banquet for lovers of jazz in its past and present tense.

Review by Jack Bowers, All About Jazz

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Harry Allen's All Star New York Saxophone Band - The Candy Men (2016)

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