Mixing harmony and history: Four Freshmen return to part of the group’s roots

It must be something in the air.

Bass vocalist and drummer Bob Ferreira has considered the matter at length. So he swears he’s going to take a deep, inhaling breath the minute he gets to Columbus for The Four Freshmen concert Aug. 25 at Judson Erne Auditorium, and probably feel the magic.

“You have to still wonder sometimes, ‘What exactly was it that inspired them to create this sound?’” Ferreira said.

He spoke by phone from Newport Beach, California. There, Ferreira and his mates, at least the 25th incarnation of the classic, vocal jazz harmony quartet, would perform and still demonstrate that its signature blend remains as sweet and true as the day the foursome invented it 70 years ago while students at Butler University.

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Brothers and Columbus natives Ross and Don Barbour formed half of the group, along with their cousin Bob Flanigan and friend Hal Kratzsch, all Hoosiers. On Ferreira’s last visit to Columbus with the group in 2006, the Freshmen performed the band’s first Capitol Records’ hit, “It’s a Blue World,” from 1952 with Ross Barbour, visiting from California (he retired from the group in 1977 and died in 2011).

“That was special,” Ferreira said.

The original group itself was so special it was nominated for six Grammy Awards. The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, lauded by many as something of a musical genius, has said he wore out the grooves of his Four Freshmen LPs trying to imitate the harmony.

Ferreira mentioned that much of the band’s 90-minute set list will include early material from the original foursome lasting from 1948 to 1952. That seems fitting, since the concert is historic in that it kicks off Columbus North High School’s 150th anniversary celebration, and the Barbours are graduates of Columbus High School, a forerunner of the current institution. Ferreira said many of the tunes haven’t been performed publicly by the group in nearly 65 years.

“These are tunes that these guys arranged simply by ear,” Ferreira said. “And these created the foundation of the sound on all those great Capitol Records recordings. And they did this by just sitting around a guitar.”

Songs at the local concert will include numbers such as “Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Like You,” from 1952, and newer releases such as “Pick Up Your Tears,” from 2014. Plus, members — trumpet player Jonathan Gaines, guitarist Stein Malvey and lead vocalist and bassist Tommy Boynton — will mix in jazz vocal standards such as “The Masquerade Is Over” and “When I Fall in Love.”

Ferreira talks about the group’s beginnings with a respect befitting the most senior member of the current group at 26 years and counting.

“It’s so important to be able to absorb this experience,” said Ferreira, 48. “It’s not always an easy lifestyle. But I do this because I absolutely love it.”

Ross Barbour’s wife, Sue Barbour of Simi Valley, California, has caught their latest act twice in the past three months. She understands the group as far more than a fan since she filled in as the tenor at some rehearsals in the early days when Flanigan couldn’t make it.

“I still go see them because I want them to keep their sound alive,” she said. “The group that they have now is very, very energetic and so enthusiastic.”

Ferreira called her “a wonderful supporter of the group” who often brings more than a dozen family members to shows and attends the group’s annual conventions for the still-popular The Four Freshmen Society.

And what would Ross Barbour think of the latest assemblage of The Four Freshmen? Sue Barbour offered an immediate, wise, senior musical affirmation.

“Oh,” she said, “he would absolutely love them.”

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Who: Vocal jazz harmony group The Four Freshmen in concert, including the group’s older material from nearly 70 years ago mixed with newer recordings and jazz vocal standards.

When: 7:30 p.m. Aug. 25

Where: Columbus North High School’s Judson Erne Auditorium, 1400 25th St.

Tickets: $10 to $25.

Information and purchasing: The Columbus Indiana Philharmonic at 812-376-2638 or thecip.org.

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