The Four Freshmen

The Four Freshmen play the Musical Instrument Museum on Friday, December 4, as part of the Holiday Harmonies concert series. They're one of America's longest-running vocal groups, bringing a jazz sensibility to the classic American songbook since they started back in 1948.

Their whole sound is built around a tight four-part vocal blend. It's not far off from barbershop, but with a jazzier lean that carries every tune from dreamy, crooner-style ballads to swinging, up-tempo arrangements that make a quartet sound like a big band. You'll recognize some of their best-known songs, like "It's A Blue World" and "Graduation Day."

They've put out more than 80 albums and earned six Grammy nominations over the years, and their influence reached as far as The Beach Boys. The Wall Street Journal once called them "an ultra-talented quartet of vocalists."

The show is at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, the world's largest music museum. It's a contemporary 200,000-square-foot facility that opened in April 2010 and houses a 299-seat concert theatre alongside more than 15,000 instruments from nearly 200 countries. The Four Freshmen take that stage at 7:30 PM on Friday, December 4.