Press & Reviews

John Pizzarelli, Jazz Artist

I’ve done retrospectives of many composers, but the one that seems to resonate the most with audiences is my Harold Arlen show. People are tremendously moved. Harold’s son Sam captures that on his excellent new CD.

USA Today

Sam Arlen, Arlen Plays Arlen (* * *) The many artists saluting Harold Arlen on this year's centennial of his birth include the late composer's own son... Saxophonist Sam Arlen has a little more fun with his father's material, offering a breezy, Latin-tinged Come Rain or Come Shine and a playful Wizard of Oz medley. But the younger Arlen also mines the pathos in darker gems such as Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good), reaffirming the depth and breadth that will continue to draw musicians of all stripes to his dad's treasure chest.

Elysa Gardner

Buffalo News June 2005

The Arlen centennial has been marked by concerts and events throughout the world, but the stop in Buffalo has deep meaning for his family. "Buffalo was where it all started for my father...

( click on the Sax to view complete article)

Michael Feinstein, Jazz Artist ... Listening to Arlen Plays Arlen is a revelation. These instrumental Arlen standards sound fresh and new, making this CD the perfect party record for a new generation. This CD, like the songs it celebrates, is timeless.

CD liner note

Jane Waldman, Associated Press

Sam Arlen's wonderful new CD is a glowing tribute to his father's music, one of the most important American composers of all time.

CD liner note

JazzReview.com

Fans of the music of composer Harold Arlen will want this one for their collection. Big Band fans will love its smooth, imaginative imagery. A fine collection!

This is a memorable listening experience, a tribute to the best-known songs of composer Harold Arlen. Arlen's son, well-known saxophonist Sam Arlen, leads the big band sounds in fine form. Among the fourteen songs are Arlen's best. Songs include "Come Rain Or Come Shine," "Stormy Weather," "Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home," "Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea," "Over The Rainbow," among others. Fans of the music of composer Harold Arlen will want this one for their collection. Big Band fans will love its smooth, imaginative imagery. A fine collection! A fine display of saxophone techniques and big band sound are found in all the songs, and special note to "Come Rain Or Come Shine" and "Stormy Weather."

Lee Prosser

Tucson Citizen - Grade: A+

The big band is solid, the brass sections are particularly crisp... simply beautiful, recalling a more generous musical time when sweet sentiment had more value than noisy violence in pop culture.

With the Harold Arlen tribute tour having just passed through town, you can hang onto the composer's spirit a little longer with this CD of Arlen songs played by the songwriter's own tenor sax-playing son Sam. The big band is solid, the brass sections are particularly crisp. Tony Tedesco mans the drum kit that keeps the whole thing moving smartly along. There is lots more to Harold Arlen's music than all those beloved hits he wrote for "The Wizard of Oz." In this collection of 13 titles, about half are the biggies. The rest are simply beautiful, recalling a more generous musical time when sweet sentiment had more value than noisy violence in pop culture. My personal favorite, "Last Night When We Were Young," doesn't include the rueful lyrics by Yip Harburg, but does contain a couple of heartfelt solos from Sam Arlen. Harburg's lyrics are printed in the liner notes, so you can put it all together yourself. Incidentally, it was the teenager Judy Garland who first had a hit with this song. More familiar perhaps are "Stormy Weather," the Arlen tune with the Johnny Mercer lyrics, "Come Rain or Come Shine" and a very swinging "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." Others on the list are: "Over the Rainbow," "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead" blended with "If I Only Had A Brain," "Let's Fall In Love" and "Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home" (with another Johnny Mercer lyric). The CD package also includes some interesting liner note history of the Arlen family and reprints of snapshots that offer a natural and unpoised camera's look at the Arlens themselves.

CHUCK GRAHAM, March 3 2005

Jonathan Frank, from his 'Best of 2004' column, TalkinBroadway.com January 19 2005

I wanted to make sure that one album released this year does not fall through the cracks: Sam Arlen's Arlen Plays Arlen: A Timeless Tribute to Harold Arlen (an album that would have made my Best of 2004 list, had it been released a few days earlier)....

As this is my last Sound Advice column, I wanted to make sure that one album released this year does not fall through the cracks: Sam Arlen's Arlen Plays Arlen: A Timeless Tribute to Harold Arlen (an album that would have made my Best of 2004 list, had it been released a few days earlier). Sam, who is Harold Arlen's son, has inaugurated this year's Harold Arlen Centennial with a CD that features him playing tenor saxophone on a baker's dozen of Harold Arlen's classic tunes. While most of the album features a robust big-band sound (such as the rousing opening track, "That's A Fine Kind O' Freedom," from the 1965 album Harold Arlen Sings Arlen (With Friend): the friend being Barbra Streisand, and a delightfully over-the-auditory-top version of "Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead"), there are also moments of quieter introspection sprinkled throughout (the most touching being "It's A New World" from A Star Is Born as it features Harold Arlen himself providing the only vocals of the album). In an album filled with them, other highlights are a jazzy "Let's Fall in Love" (recalling Mancini's Pink Panther in verve and vigor) and the wailing trumpet-filled rarity, "So Long, Big Time!"

BarbraNews.com January 29, 2005 and syndicated

Sam’s way of celebrating the 100th anniversary of his father’s birth was to release a new album in tribute titled Arlen Plays Arlen... ( click on the Sax to view complete article)

George W. Carroll - The Musicians' Ombudsman at JazzReview.com, December 2004

Tied to an era, & performed such. Lush, Haunting, Expressive, Poignant, Moving, Touching, Magical... with all the accoutrements to assure a viable CD project.

Tied to an era, & performed such. Lush, Haunting, Expressive, Poignant, Moving, Touching, Magical... with all the accoutrements to assure a viable CD project. Sax man Sam Arlen, (Harold Arlen's progeny) has embarked on his ambitious experiment, complete with luxuriant string filled arrangements. The wonderment of playing his Dad's eternal music could only be exceeded by his possibly writing it himself & enjoying the idea that yes, a legacy has been left. And, truly it has, as the music of Harold Arlen has established his genius in our lexicon of our beloved American Songbook. Arlen's songs, so well interpreted by his son Sam, is America's 'classical music.' Relying on his original music, Harold Arlen is still influencing a spate of modern day composers, (certainly me!) Sam frames his Dad's compositions with an almost childlike ethos, appropriately enough... Thus, leaving us to enjoy the passion, endurance, and power of his straight from the soul songs. Long live 'tin pan alley.'

Andy Propst at AmericanTheaterWeb.com, January 2005

Among some of the standouts on this retro, yet contemporary disc, the younger Arlen’s emotional saxophone solo in "Come Rain or Come Shine" and a technologically savvy "duet" for the two Arlens – "It’s a New World" from "A Star is Born."

From JoSam Records comes Arlen Plays Arlen. Here saxophonist, and son, Sam Arlen pays tribute to his father’s legacy with thirteen big-band renditions of songs ranging from the "Oz" tunes to "Ill Wind" and "Let’s Fall in Love." Among some of the standouts on this retro, yet contemporary disc, the younger Arlen’s emotional saxophone solo in "Come Rain or Come Shine" and a technologically savvy "duet" for the two Arlens – "It’s a New World" from "A Star is Born." The elder Arlen’s voice is not perfect, but there’s nothing like a composer singing his own material.

Accompanying this disc is a handsome booklet that contains not only the lyrics for the songs, but also anecdotes from Arlen and terrific period photographs that make this familial-inspired disc feel even more personal.

Knight Ridder Newspapers (syndicated) by Jonathan Takiff

Sam Arlen, a decent saxophone player, fronts a tastefully arranged, mostly big-band styled tribute

HAPPY 100TH: Harold Arlen, one of the 20th century's greatest composers, is duly honored on what would have been his 100th birthday today, February 15. His son Sam Arlen, a decent saxophone player, fronts a tastefully arranged, mostly big-band styled tribute "Arlen Plays Arlen (JoSam Records), serving up some rarities as well as expected greats like "Stormy Weather," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Last Night When We Were Young" and several of dad's "Wizard of Oz" gems, including "Over The Rainbow." B

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