The Manhattan Transfer
Riding a wave of nostalgia in the '70s, the Manhattan Transfer resurrected jazz trends from boogie-woogie to bop to vocalese in a slick, slightly commercial setting that balanced the group's close harmonies. Originally formed in 1969, the quartet recorded several albums of jazz standards as well as much material closer to R&B/pop. Still, they were easily the most popular jazz vocal group of their era, and the most talented of any since the heyday of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross during the early '60s. When the group was formed in the late '60s, however, the Manhattan Transfer was a hippie novelty act similar to the Lovin' Spoonful or Spanky & Our Gang. The lone LP that appeared from the original lineup -- leader Gene Pistilli plus Tim Hauser, Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson, and Pat Rosalia -- was Jukin', assembled by Capitol. Somewhat of a satire record, it was the last appearance on a Manhattan Transfer album for all of the above except Hauser. After Hauser met vocalists Laurel Masse and Janis Siegel in 1972, the trio re-formed the Manhattan Transfer later that year with the addition of Alan Paul. The group became popular after appearances at a few New York hot spots and recorded their own debut, an eponymous LP recorded with help from the jazz world (including Zoot Sims, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, and Mel Davis). Featuring vocalese covers of "Java Jive" and "Tuxedo Junction" as well as a Top 40 hit in the aggressive gospel tune "Operator," the album rejuvenated the field of vocalese (dormant since the mid-'60s) and made the quartet stars in the jazz community across Europe as well as America. The Manhattan Transfer's next two albums, Coming Out and Pastiche, minimized the jazz content in favor of covers from around the music community, from Nashville to Los Angeles to Motown. A single from Coming Out, the ballad "Chanson d'Amour," hit number one in Britain. Though Masse left in 1979 for a solo career, Cheryl Bentyne proved a capable replacement, and that same year, Extensions introduced their best-known song, "Birdland," the ode to bop written by Weather Report several years earlier. Throughout the '80s, the group balanced retreads from all aspects of American song. The 1981 LP Mecca for Moderns gained the Manhattan Transfer their first American Top Ten hit, with a cover of the Ad Libs' 1965 girl group classic "The Boy from New York City," but also included a version of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" and a surreal, wordless tribute named "Kafka." (The album also earned the Manhattan Transfer honors as the first artist to receive Grammys in both the pop and jazz categories in the same year.) The production on virtually all these was susceptible to '80s slickness, and though the group harmonies were wonderful, all but the most open of listeners had trouble digesting the sheer variety of material. The group's 1985 tribute to vocal pioneer Jon Hendricks, titled Vocalese, marked a shift in the Manhattan Transfer's focus. Subsequent works managed to keep the concepts down to one per album, and the results were more consistent. Such records as 1987's Brasil, 1994's Tubby the Tuba (a children's record), 1995's Tonin' ('60s R&B), and 1997's Swing (pre-war swing) may not have found the group at their performance peak, but were much more easily understandable for what they were. The group stayed very active and concept-heavy during the 2000s, beginning with a tribute to Louis Armstrong for 2000's The Spirit of St. Louis. They included a pair of Rufus Wainwright songs among the jazz material on 2004's Vibrate, and released An Acapella Christmas the following year. The Symphony Sessions followed in 2006, offering re-recordings of some of their best-known songs with orchestral arrangements. In 2009, the Transfer saluted one of the biggest names in jazz with The Chick Corea Songbook, and featured contributions from Corea, Airto Moreira, Christian McBride, and Ronnie Cuber, among others. During the early 2010s, the group focused more on performing, although both Bentyne and Hauser were forced to find temporary replacements during medical procedures. After spinal surgery in 2013, Hauser returned to the group, but then died suddenly from cardiac arrest in October 2014. Following his death, vocalist Trist Curless of the a cappella group m-pact joined the group full-time. In 2018, the group returned with the eclectic studio album Junction, which they dedicated to Hauser.© John Bush /TiVo Read more
Riding a wave of nostalgia in the '70s, the Manhattan Transfer resurrected jazz trends from boogie-woogie to bop to vocalese in a slick, slightly commercial setting that balanced the group's close harmonies. Originally formed in 1969, the quartet recorded several albums of jazz standards as well as much material closer to R&B/pop. Still, they were easily the most popular jazz vocal group of their era, and the most talented of any since the heyday of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross during the early '60s.
When the group was formed in the late '60s, however, the Manhattan Transfer was a hippie novelty act similar to the Lovin' Spoonful or Spanky & Our Gang. The lone LP that appeared from the original lineup -- leader Gene Pistilli plus Tim Hauser, Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson, and Pat Rosalia -- was Jukin', assembled by Capitol. Somewhat of a satire record, it was the last appearance on a Manhattan Transfer album for all of the above except Hauser.
After Hauser met vocalists Laurel Masse and Janis Siegel in 1972, the trio re-formed the Manhattan Transfer later that year with the addition of Alan Paul. The group became popular after appearances at a few New York hot spots and recorded their own debut, an eponymous LP recorded with help from the jazz world (including Zoot Sims, Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, and Mel Davis). Featuring vocalese covers of "Java Jive" and "Tuxedo Junction" as well as a Top 40 hit in the aggressive gospel tune "Operator," the album rejuvenated the field of vocalese (dormant since the mid-'60s) and made the quartet stars in the jazz community across Europe as well as America.
The Manhattan Transfer's next two albums, Coming Out and Pastiche, minimized the jazz content in favor of covers from around the music community, from Nashville to Los Angeles to Motown. A single from Coming Out, the ballad "Chanson d'Amour," hit number one in Britain. Though Masse left in 1979 for a solo career, Cheryl Bentyne proved a capable replacement, and that same year, Extensions introduced their best-known song, "Birdland," the ode to bop written by Weather Report several years earlier.
Throughout the '80s, the group balanced retreads from all aspects of American song. The 1981 LP Mecca for Moderns gained the Manhattan Transfer their first American Top Ten hit, with a cover of the Ad Libs' 1965 girl group classic "The Boy from New York City," but also included a version of Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" and a surreal, wordless tribute named "Kafka." (The album also earned the Manhattan Transfer honors as the first artist to receive Grammys in both the pop and jazz categories in the same year.) The production on virtually all these was susceptible to '80s slickness, and though the group harmonies were wonderful, all but the most open of listeners had trouble digesting the sheer variety of material.
The group's 1985 tribute to vocal pioneer Jon Hendricks, titled Vocalese, marked a shift in the Manhattan Transfer's focus. Subsequent works managed to keep the concepts down to one per album, and the results were more consistent. Such records as 1987's Brasil, 1994's Tubby the Tuba (a children's record), 1995's Tonin' ('60s R&B), and 1997's Swing (pre-war swing) may not have found the group at their performance peak, but were much more easily understandable for what they were.
The group stayed very active and concept-heavy during the 2000s, beginning with a tribute to Louis Armstrong for 2000's The Spirit of St. Louis. They included a pair of Rufus Wainwright songs among the jazz material on 2004's Vibrate, and released An Acapella Christmas the following year. The Symphony Sessions followed in 2006, offering re-recordings of some of their best-known songs with orchestral arrangements.
In 2009, the Transfer saluted one of the biggest names in jazz with The Chick Corea Songbook, and featured contributions from Corea, Airto Moreira, Christian McBride, and Ronnie Cuber, among others. During the early 2010s, the group focused more on performing, although both Bentyne and Hauser were forced to find temporary replacements during medical procedures. After spinal surgery in 2013, Hauser returned to the group, but then died suddenly from cardiac arrest in October 2014. Following his death, vocalist Trist Curless of the a cappella group m-pact joined the group full-time. In 2018, the group returned with the eclectic studio album Junction, which they dedicated to Hauser.
© John Bush /TiVo
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The Very Best Of The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jan 25, 1994
This eclectic collection of songs encompasses jazz, bebop, swing, doo wop, rock & roll, and gospel; all are trimmed in an attractive pop texture. Thes ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vocalese
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jan 1, 1985
Many of the Manhattan Transfer's recordings up to the point of Vocalese showed off their diversity and covered a wide variety of music, including jazz ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brasil
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Nov 3, 1987
Tim Hauser likes to say that the Manhattan Transfer gets bored easily; hence the exploratory bent that has made them the most interesting vocal group ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Junction
The Manhattan Transfer
Vocal Jazz - Released by BMG on Mar 30, 2018
During the 1970s, and especially the 1980s, Manhattan Transfer topped the charts with its clever blend of jazz vocal light, doo-wop and cabaret. Follo ...
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Extensions
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Oct 31, 1979
This fourth album from Manhattan Transfer was the first for Cheryl Bentyne, who replaced Laurel Masse after the original singer's auto accident and su ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Offbeat Of Avenues
The Manhattan Transfer
Pop/Rock - Released by Columbia on Aug 12, 1991
Other than a recreation of the Miles Davis/Gil Evans recording of "Blues for Pablo" (with trumpeter Mark Isham filling in for Miles), this program by ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bodies And Souls (Remastered Edition)
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Sep 1, 1983
For Bodies and Souls, the Manhattan Transfer almost completely abandons its roots in favor of a slick, pop/R&B direction on one side of the LP version ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Manhattan Transfer
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Apr 2, 1975
The Manhattan Transfer first came to the general public's attention as a retro act, a nostalgic throwback in a era consumed with nostalgia -- the earl ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Swing
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jan 1, 1997
On this continually interesting CD, the Manhattan Transfer revisits tunes from the swing era, in some cases re-creating (through vocalese) specific re ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tonin'
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jan 24, 1995
The idea on Tonin' was to turn the Manhattan Transfer loose on a baker's dozen of good old 1960s pop and R&B hits in league either with the original a ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Symphony Sessions (2006 Remastered Version)
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Rhino on Oct 3, 2006
This collection features rerecorded versions of some of the Manhattan Transfer's best-known songs, including classics like "Embraceable You," "A Night ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bart&Baker Music Presents Twilight Tone / Twilight Zone (New Remixes)
The Manhattan Transfer
Electronic - Released by Bart&Baker Music on Jun 28, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tequila / The Way Of The Booze
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by BMG on Mar 9, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Coming Out
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jan 1, 1975
The Manhattan Transfer's second Atlantic recording, Coming Out, showcases the talented singers (Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Laurel Masse) ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pastiche
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jan 1, 1977
The dictionary definition of "pastiche" is an artistic composition imitating or caricaturing previous works, so given the lack of home-grown material ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Christmas Album
The Manhattan Transfer
Christmas Music - Released by Columbia on Jan 1, 1992
For their set of Christmas related material, the Manhattan Transfer welcome such guests as trumpeter Jack Sheldon (on "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let I ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mecca For Moderns
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Jun 1, 1981
After the deserved artistic, critical and popular success of Extensions, the Manhattan Transfer went back to ace producer Jay Graydon for Mecca for Mo ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Spirit Of St. Louis
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Craft Recordings on Oct 1, 2000
You always look for new things from the Manhattan Transfer, and after a couple of releases that weren't too innovative, followed by a three-year gap, ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Summit: Live on Soundstage (Live)
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by BMG on Nov 30, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Chick Corea Songbook
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Four Quarters Records on Sep 29, 2009
It would be challenging for any ensemble to reinterpret the music of Chick Corea, but adding a larger vocal component did not deter the Manhattan Tran ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
An Acapella Christmas
The Manhattan Transfer
Jazz - Released by Rhino on Oct 3, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo