Track Listing
1.
Four Brothers
2.
Rambo
3.
Meet Benny Bailey
4. Airegin
5.
To You
6.
Sing Joy Spring
7.
Move
8. That's
Killer Joe
9.
The Duke Of
Dubuque
10.
Gloria
11.
Heat's
Desire
12.
Birdland
13. On
The Boulevard
14.
Shaker Song
15.
Java Jive
16.
Blue Champagne
17.
How High The Moon
18.
Boy From New York City
19. Ray's
Rockhouse
the
Manhattan Transfer is an
American vocal music group. There have been two manifestations of the group, with
Tim Hauser being the only person to be part of both. The name comes from
John Dos Passos' 1925 novel Manhattan Transfer and refers to the group's
New York origins.
Founding
The first manifestation of the group was established in
1969 in
New York City by Tim Hauser,
Erin Dickins,
Marty Nelson, and Pat Rosalia.
Gene Pistilli, a good friend, soon became an integral component and composed for, and recorded with, the group. They contracted with
Capitol Records, recorded several tracks, and issued their first
album,
Jukin' (
1971). The album was later reissued in the UK by
EMI's
Music for Pleasure under the title
The Manhattan Transfer and Gene Pistilli[
1][2] Pistilli had been best known for his performing and songwriting collaborations with
Terry Cashman and
Tommy West. This team endured until
1973. According to Hauser, "Gene and
I were in two different places. He was more into
R&B;, and the
Memphis sound, and by then I'd become more interested in jazz and swing
..."[3]
Second line-up
The next line-up of the group was formed in 1973 by Tim Hauser with singers
Alan Paul,
Janis Siegel, and
Laurel Massé. After performances at
Max's Kansas City, the group developed a cult fan base.
Ahmet Ertegün, founder and chairman of
Atlantic Records, saw them at
Reno Sweeney and offered a recording contract. The group's first album for
Atlantic was The Manhattan Transfer (
1975), which included their first successful single, the gospel music tune "
Operator". During the summer of 1975, the group was showcased in their own hour-long television variety series on
CBS.
They also gained a following in
Europe, where their next two albums,
Coming Out and
Pastiche, brought a string of hits. One was a revival of
Wayne Shanklin's "
Chanson D'Amour", which became a number one hit in the UK and
Australia in
1977, though it failed to chart in the
U.S. These were followed by a live album,
The Manhattan Transfer Live, which was recorded in the UK and reached the
UK Top 5.
Third line-up and journey into jazz
n
September 1983, the group released the album
Bodies 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 former
Heatwave member
Rod Temperton who had penned several hits for
Michael 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 recorded by
Anita Baker on her
1986 album
Rapture.
In
1985, the group released two albums; the first was
Bop Doo-Wopp, which included both live and studio recordings. The group's next album,
Vocalese received twelve
Grammy nominations—at the time making it second only to
Michael Jackson's Thriller 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 titled
Live. This concert, recorded in
Japan, was also released on
VHS and
DVD, later titled as Vocalese Live.
For their next album,
Brasil (
1987), the group headed south to work with Brazilian songwriters and musicians
Ivan Lins,
Milton Nascimento,
Djavan and
Gilberto Gil. Brasil won a Grammy for Best Pop
Performance by a Duo or Group with
Vocal.
The group did not release any more studio albums until
1991, when they signed with the
Sony Music label and released
The 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 entitled
The Christmas Album in
1992.
Switching back to Atlantic Records as their distributor, they released
Tonin' (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 album
Swing which covered 1930s-era swing music. Their final album for the Atlantic company was
The Spirit of
St. Louis in
2000, dedicated to the music of
Louis Armstrong.
The group was inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame in
1998.
- published: 21 Aug 2012
- views: 460852