The Manhattan Transfer Biography, Photos and Posters

The Manhattan Transfer

Biography

Started: 1969/1972
City and Country of Origin: New York, NY
Music Background:
Awards: 1998 inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame; Grammy 1991 Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, Sassy; 1988 Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, Brasil; 1985 Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group, Vocalese; 1983 Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group, Why Not!; 1982 Best Jazz Vocal Performance Duo Or Group, "Route 66;" 1981 Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal, "Boy From New York City;" Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo Or Group, "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket);" 1980 Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal Or Istrumental, "Birdland"
Top Recordings: "Operator," "Chanson D'Amour," "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone," "Boy From New York City," "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)," "Route 66,"
The Manhattan Transfer Biography: The Manhattan Transfer is the name of 2 separate American vocal groups; the first short-lived group started in New York in 1969, but disbanded after producing just 1 album. The second group consisting of many of the same members formed in 1972 and is still in existence. The name derives from the John Dos Passos' 1925 novel of the same name.

The group consists of singers Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, Laurel Massé and Tim Hauser. They started out performing in local New YOrk clubs like Trude Heller's, Reno Sweeney, and the famous Andy Warhol hangout Max's Kansas City. In 1975 it released its first album, The Manhattan Transfer. An album named Jukin' was made earlier, in 1971, but it was not the same group back then. The album contained the groups first hit single "Operator."

The group soon met with success in Europe where its next two albums, Coming Out and Pastiche, brought it a string of top 10 hits (including a revival of Art and Dotty Todd's "Chanson D'Amour," which went to number one in the UK in 1977 but failed to chart in the US). Cheryl Bentyne replaced Laurel Massé after a serious car accident.

The groups next recording Extensions yielded their second U.S. hit "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone." The album also featured the groups signature song "Birdland," which earned the group its first Grammy. In 1981 they became the first group to win Grammys in both pop and jazz categories in the same year with "Boy From New York City," garnering pop honors and "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)" jazz honors both songs appeared on the album Mecca for Moderns. 1092 would bring yet another Grammy for "Route 66."

The groups album Vocalese in 1985 garnered 12 Grammy nominations winning 2 Grammys. On their next album Brasil the group headed south to work with Brazilian songwriters and musicians Ivan Lins, Milton Nascimento, Djavan and Gilberto Gil. Brasil also won a Grammy.

The Offbeat of Avenues, on Sony, featured songs written by the groups members and was followed by The Christmas Album cd. The group switched back to Atlantic to record "Tonin'," a collection of R&B and pop hits from the 1960s which was rather unsuccessful. The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba (a children's album), Man-Tora! Live In Tokyo (a concert recorded in 1986 in Japan), and their 1997 album Swing covered 1930s-era swing music. Their final album for the Atlantic label was The Spirit of St. Louis (2000), dedicated to the music of Louis Armstrong.

The group moved to the Telarc Label in 2003 to record Couldn't Be Hotter, a live performance capturing many of the songs from The Spirit of St. Louis. 2004 brought the release of Vibrate and An Acapella Christmas wa released in 2005. "The Symphony Sessions" is a collection of the group's hits re-arranged for Sypmphonies and Pops Orchestras. In 2006 they released The Christmas Concert which was aired on PBS.

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