Concert Reviews

The Brothers Four: Musical Excellence

The evening was all about musical excellence. The Brothers Four offered songs that were engaging, filled with vocal harmony and strong instrumental work, and they were straight from the heart of America.

Bob Flick has held the Brothers together for the last several decades, and watching him last night would be hard to distinguish from 30 years ago. He caressed his string bass, sang with a pure baritone voice on his solos, harmonized flawlessly, and adlibbed his way through several offerings to the audience that left us holding our sides in laughter. His solo voice is as strong as it's ever been, and the men that he has surrounded himself with are all first cabin. Of the other Brothers, here is my caricature of each:

Mark Pearson continues to be a marvel. He's been with the group since the late 1960's, and his tenor and harmonies are as indigenous to the sound of the group as they have been for all these last 40 years. His banjo work, both four and five- string, are for new generations to appreciate, applaud, and then take to the generation to follow. He is a fabulous instrumentalist on four different instruments during any given concert. To hear his ragtime banjo is to realize that he is a lost remnant of an age of yore. He continues to be a joy to watch, listen to, and enjoy for his instrumental and vocal work as well as his harmonies.

Mike McCoy has been involved with the Brothers off and on for some time according to Bob's introduction working on both recordings and performing in concerts. Vocally, he is on the edge of Woody Guthrie, as in on the edge with a raspy but infectious delivery, but when it comes to delivering a lyric, every word comes straight from the heart. I loved every line that he delivered, and I couldn't separate his harmonies from the rest of the Brothers. He displays a love of the music, and he has the ability to make himself almost disappear within the group until that solo verse comes to the fore. In my mind, he's a classic example of an effective voice for American folk music.

The surprise of the evening was Karl Olsen with his infectious tenor and harmonies with Mark. Karl is the real deal, and he has a trained musical voice. Ordinarily, I'd leave that in the dust, but Karl takes any given moment, and he beatifies a lyric. I, my wife, and my college roommate and wife walked out of the concert realizing what a talent we'd seen just in Karl. He is a perfect compliment for Bob, Mark, and Mike.

Altogether, The Brothers Four exemplify musical excellence and a love for American music, presenting folk music as a contemporary form of who we are as Americans in our collective hearts and souls.

Historic Elsinore Theater - Posted by J. Morrell, Statesman Journal