JAZZ REVIEW : A Valuable Lesson From Four Freshmen : The group, though not as fresh as it once was, could teach today’s pop stars something about making music.

After seeing them Sunday at Cafe Lido, one has to wonder what the Four Freshmen thought of the Milli Vanilli controversy. Here’s a group that not only does its own singing, much of it involving complex harmonies, but also provides its own musical accompaniment including rhythm section and a four-piece brass front line. Some of today’s pop wonders can’t even sing and dance at the same time.

Next to their longevity, this might be the Freshmen’s greatest accomplishment: the sheer amount of sound they bring to the bandstand.

The only remaining original member, Bob Flanigan, takes most of the lead vocals, plays trombone and usually doubles on bass (though not at this engagement, due to a blown amplifier). Drummer Autie Goodman takes the occasional vocal lead (his delivery of “When Sonny Gets Blue” recalled the hypnotic delicacy of Chet Baker) and also plays alto sax from behind his traps. Gary Lee Rosenberg, who filled in as bassist with the help of a synthesizer, adds fluegelhorn. And keyboardist Greg Stegeman also doubles on trumpet and fluegelhorn.

The resulting sound seems as though it comes from eight men rather than four.

Their first show Sunday was a nostalgic tour through more than 40 years of Freshmen history, and just to the liking of the faithful who filled the Lido.

But the Freshmen sound is not as, well, fresh as it once was. There were times when the rhythms faltered, the brass blend soured, or the harmonies seemed more translucent than transparent.

Still, the foursome showed a lot of enthusiasm and playfulness, both with their material and their between-tune patter.

The Freshmen worked a bevy of established popular tunes--”The Song Is You,” “Angel Eyes” “Graduation Day”--each with those demanding harmonies and, at times, equally demanding arrangements.

They opened “Nancy With the Laughing Face” with an a cappella passage touched in places by sweetness. On “Day In, Day Out,” the voices ambitiously climbed the chordal ladder after each line of the opening verse.

The horn section break during “The Song Is You”--with all four men playing brass and Goodman, on alto, keeping time with the foot pedal of his high-hat--was a surprising contrast to the vocal mix that had gone before.

Though he compared himself unfavorably to fellow trombonist Bill Watrous, Flanigan added round polished tones and pleasant improvisational lines on his slide. He sang with strength and a certain amount of panache, adding slips, slides and slurs to the melodies.

And there were comic touches aplenty. Flanigan’s imitation of Stan Kenton counting down the group from behind (the proceedings were laced with a number of recollections of the late bandleader, who discovered the group in 1950) brought down the house. Goodman broke one long, unaccompanied alto passage with the crack, “How long is this show?”

The two-set show was full of reminders of the influence the Four Freshmen have had on pop music (the Beach Boys, among others, frequently have credited the group with inspiring their vocal harmony approach).

Maybe it’s time today’s pop stars started paying less attention to their accountants and fashion consultants and more attention to their predecessors like the Four Freshmen.