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The Manhattan Transfer | |
|---|---|
 The classic formation of the Manhattan Transfer from left to right:Janis Siegel,Cheryl Bentyne,Alan Paul, andTim Hauser | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1969–2023 |
| Labels | Capitol,Columbia,Atlantic,Telarc,Rhino |
| Past members |
|
| Website | manhattantransfer |
The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 inNew York City, performing music genres likea cappella, Brazilianjazz,swing,vocalese,rhythm and blues,pop, and standards. They won elevenGrammy Awards.
There were several incarnations and formations of the Manhattan Transfer, with each edition having different styles.
The first rendition was in the 1960s, consisting of a mostly a cappella-tinged style; it featuredTim Hauser, Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson, Pat Rosalia, and Gene Pistilli. The second version of the group, formed in 1972, incorporating a more vocal jazz approach, consisted of Hauser,Alan Paul,Janis Siegel, andLaurel Massé.
The third, and most commercially perceived, formation of the group happened in 1979, because Massé had to leave the group after being badly injured in a car crash and was replaced byCheryl Bentyne. This edition of the Manhattan Transfer performed electronic-styled pop, soul, funk, and rhythmic music, having success in the 1980s.
Since the 1990s, the lineup of Hauser, Paul, Siegel, and Bentyne continued, and performed mostlycool andsmooth jazz. The group also had several rotating touring members, and longtime pianist Yaron Gershovsky accompanied the group on tour and served asmusic director. Trist Curless from the Los Angeles a cappella groupm-pact became a permanent member in October 2014 following Hauser's death.[2] The group officially retired in 2023.[3]
In 1969, Tim Hauser formed a vocal group in New York City called The Manhattan Transfer afterthe novel byJohn Dos Passos.[4] The group consisted of Hauser, Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson, Pat Rosalia, and Gene Pistilli. This group made one album,Jukin' (Capitol, 1971), which looked at the jazz music of the past as well as rock and country genres unlike the later incarnations of the group.[5] They were not picked up by Capitol Records for a second album, and the group broke up in 1973.
Shortly thereafter, Hauser metLaurel Massé while he was a cab driver and she was his passenger. Soon after, he metJanis Siegel. During this time, session drummer Roy Markowitz, who had played withJanis Joplin and recorded withDon McLean, attended a performance of the group and convinced Tim to change the group's direction. Roy was in the Broadway band ofGrease and introduced one of its cast members,Alan Paul (who played thedual role of bandleader Johnny Casino and theTeen Angel), to Tim. Thus began another version of The Manhattan Transfer.[4][5] After performing in clubs in New York City, the quartet asked Roy to produce a demo to present toAhmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records. The demo was a success and Atlantic released its debut album with guest appearances by bona fide jazz musiciansRandy Brecker,Jon Faddis, andZoot Sims.The Manhattan Transfer (Atlantic, 1975) eschewed the condescension of the previous album, presenting instead seriousvocalese renditions of "Java Jive" and "Tuxedo Junction" and scoring aHot 100 top 25 hit with the gospel-tinged "Operator."[5] During the month of August 1975, the group hosted a four-week variety series onCBS-TV. The hour-long show was simply calledThe Manhattan Transfer, aired on Sunday evenings, and for the most part concentrated on showcasing the talents of the group.[6] Their next album,Coming Out (1976), produced "Chanson d'Amour," which was a number one hit in the UK and Ireland.[5]
In 1978, Laurel Massé was in a car crash and dropped out of the group. She was replaced byCheryl Bentyne.[4][5] The group's next album,Extensions (Atlantic, 1979), produced the hit "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone", a song based on the TV seriesThe Twilight Zone (including an impersonation ofRod Serling's narration from Alan Paul).[7]
Extensions featured a cover version of "Birdland", an instrumental by the jazz fusion groupWeather Report, with lyrics byJon Hendricks of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. One of the most popular jazz recordings of 1980, "Birdland" won theGrammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, while Janis Siegel won the Grammy Award forBest Vocal Arrangement.
In 1981, the Manhattan Transfer made music history by becoming the first group to win Grammy awards for both popular and jazz categories in the same year. "The Boy from New York City", a cover of the 1965 success byThe Ad Libs, reached the Top 10 on theHot 100 and won them the award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, and "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)" earned them aGrammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group. Both of these songs appeared on the group's fifth album,Mecca for Moderns (Atlantic, 1981). In 1982, the group won another Grammy, for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group, for its rendition of "Route 66". The song was featured on the soundtrack to theBurt Reynolds filmSharky's Machine.
In September 1983, the group released the albumBodies and Souls, with an urban-contemporary style which resulted in two R&B chart singles. The first was the No. 2 hit "Spice of Life", which was co-written by formerHeatwave memberRod Temperton who had penned several hits forMichael Jackson. The single also reached No. 40 on the US pop chart and No. 19 in the UK. The other single, the ballad "Mystery" (#80 R&B, No. 102 Pop), was later covered byAnita Baker on her 1986 albumRapture.
In 1985, the group released two albums; the first wasBop Doo-Wopp, which included both live and studio recordings, and the second wasVocalese, which received twelve Grammy nominations—at the time making it second only toMichael Jackson'sThriller as the most nominated single album ever. The group won in two categories: Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group, and Best Arrangement for Voices. This was followed by a live recording of many of these songs titledLive. This concert, recorded in Japan, was also released on VHS and DVD, later titledVocalese Live.
For their next album,Brasil (1987), the group headed south to work withBrazilian songwriters and musiciansIvan Lins,Milton Nascimento,Djavan andGilberto Gil.Brasil won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
The group did not release any studio albums again until 1991, when they signed with theSony Music label and releasedThe Offbeat of Avenues, featuring original material written or co-written by members of the quartet. Their efforts brought them their 10th Grammy award, for the song "Sassy". This was followed by the release of their first holiday album entitledThe Christmas Album in 1992.
Switching back toAtlantic Records as their distributor, they releasedTonin' (a collection of R&B and popular successes from the 1960s),The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba (a children's album), and their 1997 albumSwing which covered 1930s-era swing music. Their final album for Atlantic wasThe Spirit of St. Louis in 2000, dedicated to the music ofLouis Armstrong. The group was inducted into theVocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998.
The group signed to theTelarc label in 2003 to releaseCouldn't Be Hotter, a live performance capturing many of the songs fromThe Spirit of St. Louis. In 2004, the group releasedVibrate, another one of theirpastich albums, blending original tunes with older ones,pop, jazz andfunk.Vibrate featured notable musicians such as bassistWill Lee andSteve Hass on drums. They also released, first in Japan, their second holiday album,An Acapella Christmas, in 2005. The album was released in the U.S. in 2006.
During 2006, the group releasedThe Symphony Sessions, a collection of some of their best-known songs re-recorded with an orchestra, and alsoThe Definitive Pop Collection, a two-disc collection of the group's material from their Atlantic Records period. They also recorded their first original title song for a movie, "Trail of the Screaming Forehead"; and, in late 2006, the group released a new concert DVD,The Christmas Concert, which was broadcast by PBS.
The Chick Corea Songbook, a tribute to the works of that American jazz musician, was released in September 2009. The album features an appearance by Corea himself on the track "Free Samba". Other prominent musicians on this recording areAirto Moreira,Scott Kinsey,Steve Hass,Alex Acuña,Jimmy Earl,John Benitez, andChristian McBride.
In 2011, The Manhattan Transfer worked on an album of previously recorded, but never finished, songs to honor their 40th anniversary. "We are working on a project now that is calledThe Vaults. Over the years, there are a lot of different songs that we recorded but never finished. We pull out from the archives a lot of these songs and are finishing them," saidAlan Paul in an interview forJazz FM radio in Bulgaria.[8] One of the highlights of the album was a vocalese version of George and Ira Gershwin's "The Man I Love," based on anArtie Shaw and His Orchestra performance of the composition, which had originally been slated for theSwing album.
Original member Pat Rosalia died from cancer in July 2011.
In 2011, while receiving treatment forHodgkin's lymphoma, Cheryl Bentyne was replaced on stage for eight months by the soprano Margaret Dorn; Dorn replaced her again December 2013 (followed by Katie Campbell in early 2014) while Bentyne underwent further treatment.[9] Tim Hauser was absent from the stage in 2013 and early 2014 as he recovered from spinal surgery; he was replaced on stage by bass/baritone Trist Curless of the a cappella groupm-pact.
In September 2013, one of the original members of the group, Erin Dickins, started aKickstarter campaign to re-record "Java Jive" with the surviving original members. It featured Tim Hauser's scat musings, as well as a vocal arrangement by Marty Nelson, sung by Dickins, Nelson, Hauser and Gene Pistilli. The project was successfully funded on October 9, 2013, and released on the CDJava Jive on Dot Time Records.[10]
Tim Hauser died of cardiac arrest on October 16, 2014. Following Hauser's death, the group announced Curless would replace him.[2]
Gene Pistilli died on December 26, 2017.
The Manhattan Transfer performed their final concert on December 15, 2023, at theWalt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.[3]
| Album | Label | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [11] | US Jazz [11] | US R&B [11] | UK [12] | AUS [13] | NZ [14] | ||||
| Jukin' | Capitol | 1971 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Manhattan Transfer | Atlantic | 1975 | 33 | — | — | 49 | — | — | |
| Coming Out | Atlantic | 1976 | 48 | — | — | 12 | 29 | 18 | |
| Pastiche | Atlantic | 1978 | 66 | — | — | 10 | 39 | — |
|
| The Manhattan Transfer Live | Atlantic | 1978 | — | — | — | 4 | 71 | 17 |
|
| Extensions | Atlantic | 1979 | 55 | — | — | 63 | 91 | 48 | |
| Mecca for Moderns | Atlantic | 1981 | 22 | 6 | — | — | 65 | 21 | |
| Bodies and Souls | Atlantic | 1983 | 52 | 10 | 38 | 53 | 75 | 49 | |
| Bop Doo-Wopp | Atlantic | 1984 | 127 | 11 | — | — | — | — | |
| Vocalese | Atlantic | 1985 | 74 | 2 | — | — | — | 39 | |
| Live | Atlantic | 1987 | 187 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Brasil | Atlantic | 1987 | 98 | 2 | — | — | — | — | |
| The Offbeat of Avenues | Columbia | 1991 | 179 | 2 | — | — | — | — | |
| The Christmas Album | Columbia | 1992 | 120 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba | Summit | 1994 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Tonin' | Atlantic | 1995 | 123 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Man-Tora! Live in Tokyo | Rhino | 1996 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Swing | Atlantic | 1997 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | |
| The Spirit of St. Louis | Atlantic | 2000 | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | |
| Couldn't Be Hotter | Telarc | 2003 | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | |
| Vibrate | Telarc | 2004 | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | |
| An Acapella Christmas | King / Rhino | 2004 | — | 9 | — | — | — | — | |
| The Symphony Sessions | Rhino | 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Chick Corea Songbook | 4Q / King | 2009 | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | |
| The Junction | BMG | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Fifty | Craft Recordings | 2022 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Compilations
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [11] | US Adult [19] | US Dance [11] | US R&B [11] | UK [12] | AUS [13] | CAN [20] | NZ [14] | |||
| 1975 | "Operator" | 22 | 34 | — | — | — | 60 | 26 | — | |
| 1976 | "Tuxedo Junction" | — | — | — | — | 24 | — | — | — | |
| 1977 | "Chanson D'Amour" | — | 16 | — | — | 1 | 9 | — | 14 |
|
| "Don't Let Go" | — | — | — | — | 32 | — | — | — | ||
| 1978 | "Walk In Love" | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | — | |
| "On a Little Street in Singapore" | — | — | — | — | 20 | — | — | — | ||
| "Where Did Our Love Go/Je Voulais Te Dire (Que Je T'Attends)" | — | — | — | — | 40 | 27 | — | — | ||
| 1979 | "Who What Where When Why" | — | — | — | — | 49 | — | — | — | |
| "I Kiss Your Hand Madam" | — | — | — | — | — | 54 | — | — | ||
| 1980 | "Twilight Zone" / "Twilight Tone" | 30 | — | 4 | — | 25 | 28 | — | 15 | |
| "Trickle Trickle" | 73 | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | 32 | ||
| 1981 | "The Boy from New York City" | 7 | 4 | 30 | — | — | 36 | 8 | 2 | |
| "Smile Again" | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "Spies in the Night" | 103 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Route 66" | 78 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983 | "Spice of Life" | 40 | 5 | 29 | 32 | 19 | — | — | — | |
| 1984 | "Mystery" | 102 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Baby Come Back to Me (The Morse Code of Love)" | 83 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | "Soul Food to Go (Sina)" | — | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1995 | "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" (withPhil Collins) | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | 58 | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||||
"Chanson d'Amour" was featured inAre You Being Served, performed by all the staff ofGrace Brothers department store in the final episode of the long running sitcom.[citation needed]
The Manhattan Transfer was parodied in a popular sketch of the 1990sArgentinecomedy showCha Cha Cha, were the group is renamed as "Los Maltrattan Hamsters" (a wordplay meaning "They MistreatHamsters"), and are led by a fictitiousAlbino band leader named "Albin Stromber".[22]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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