Allen Eager

At one point in the early '50s, Allen Eager sounded nearly identical to Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Brew Moore; in fact all five tenors (from the Lester Young-influenced Four Brothers school) recorded together. But of the five, Eager has had the least impressive career, lacking the desire to really work on jazz full-time. He had played during World War II as a teenager with the bands of Bobby Sherwood, Sonny Dunham, Shorty Sherock, Hal McIntyre, Woody Herman (1943-1944), Tommy Dorsey, and Johnny Bothwell. By 1945, he was appearing regularly on 52nd Street and during 194...