The Manhattan Transfer

The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award-winning jazz

vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella,
The Manhattan Transfer
vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and
pop music.

There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, with

Tim Hauser the only person to be part of both. The first group
consisted of Hauser, Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson, Pat Rosalia,
and Gene Pistilli. The second version of the group, formed in
1972, consisted of Hauser, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Laurel
Massé. In 1979, Massé left the group after being badly injured in
a car accident and was replaced by Cheryl Bentyne. The group's Manhattan Transfer from left to right:
long-time pianist, Yaron Gershovsky, accompanied the group on Janis Siegel, Cheryl Bentyne, Alan
tour and served as music director. Trist Curless from the Los Paul, and Tim Hauser
Angeles a cappella group m-pact became a permanent member
Background information
in October 2014 following Hauser's death.[1]
Origin New York City
Genres Vocal jazz, a cappella,
Contents vocalese, swing, pop
Years active 1969–present
Early years
Labels Capitol, Columbia,
Bentyne and "Birdland"
Atlantic, Telarc, Rhino
Stretching out
Website manhattantransfer.net
Since 2000 (http://manhattantransf
Substitutes and fourth line-up er.net)
Awards and honors Members Alan Paul
Discography Janis Siegel
Albums
Cheryl Bentyne
Singles
Trist Curless
Guest/soundtrack appearances
In Other Media Past members Tim Hauser
References Laurel Massé
External links Erin Dickins
Gene Pistilli
Marty Nelson
Early years
Pat Rosalia
In 1969, Tim Hauser formed a vocal group in New York City
called the Manhattan Transfer after the novel by John Dos Passos.[2] The group consisted of Erin Dickins,
Marty Nelson, and 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.[3] They were not picked up by Capitol Records for a second album, and the group broke up in 1973.
Shortly thereafter, Hauser met Laurel Massé while he was a cab driver and she was his passenger. Soon
after, he met Janis Siegel. During this time, session drummer Roy Markowitz, who had played with Janis
Joplin, and recorded with Don McLean, attended a performance of the group and convinced Tim to change
the group's direction. Roy was in the Broadway band of Grease and introduced one of its cast members,
Alan Paul (who played the dual role of bandleader Johnny Casino and the Teen Angel), to Tim. Thus began
another version of the Manhattan Transfer.[2][3] After performing in clubs in New York City, the quartet
asked Roy to produce a demo to present to Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records. The demo was a success and
Atlantic released its debut album with guest appearances by bona fide jazz musicians Randy Brecker, Jon
Faddis, and Zoot Sims. The Manhattan Transfer (Atlantic, 1975) lacked the condescension of the previous
album, presenting instead serious vocalese renditions of "Java Jive" and "Tuxedo Junction" and scoring a
Top 20 hit with "Operator".[3] During the month of August 1975, the group hosted a four-week variety series
on CBS-TV. The hour-long show was simply called The Manhattan Transfer, aired on Sunday evenings,
and for the most part concentrated on showcasing the talents of the group.[4] Their next album, Coming Out,
produced "Chanson d'Amour," which was a number one hit in The U.K.[3]

Bentyne and "Birdland"

In 1978, Laurel Massé was in a car accident and dropped out of the group. She was replaced by Cheryl
Bentyne.[2][3] The group's next album, Extensions (Atlantic, 1979), produced the hit "Twilight Zone", a
tribute to the TV series.[5]

Extensions featured a cover version of "Birdland", an instrumental by the jazz fusion group Weather Report,
with lyrics by Jon Hendricks of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. One of the most popular jazz recordings of
1980, "Birdland" won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, while Janis Siegel won the
Grammy Award for Best 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 by The Ad Libs, reached the Top 10 on the Hot 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 a Grammy
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 the
Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine.

Stretching out
In 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 covered 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, and the second was Vocalese, which 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 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 studio albums again 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 Atlantic 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.

Since 2000
The group signed to the Telarc label in 2003 to release Couldn't Be Hotter, a live performance capturing
many of the songs from The Spirit of St. Louis. In 2004, the group released Vibrate, another one of their
"pastiche" albums, blending original tunes with older ones, pop, jazz and funk. Vibrate featured notable
musicians such as bassist Will Lee and Steve 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 released The Symphony Sessions, a collection of some of their best known songs re-
recorded with an orchestra, and also The Definitive Pop Collection, a two-disc collection of the group's
material from their time with Atlantic Records. 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, and was broadcast by PBS.

The Chick Corea Songbook, a tribute to the works of American jazz musician Chick Corea, was released in
September 2009. The album features an appearance by Corea himself on the track "Free Samba". Other
prominent musicians on this recording are Airto Moreira, Scott Kinsey, Steve Hass, Alex Acuña, Jimmy
Earl, John Benitez, and Christian 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 called The 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," said Alan Paul in an interview for Jazz FM radio in Bulgaria.[6] One of
the highlights of the album was a vocalese version of George and Ira Gershwin's The Man I Love, based on
an Artie Shaw and his orchestra performance of the composition, which had been slated for the Swing
album.

Substitutes and fourth line-up

In 2011, while receiving treatment for Hodgkin'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.[7] 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 group m-pact.
In September 2013, one of the original members of the group, Erin Dickins, started a Kickstarter 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 CD "Java Jive" on Dot Time Records.[8]
Original member Pat Rosalia died from cancer in July 2011. Tim Hauser died of cardiac arrest on October
16, 2014.

Following Hauser's death, the group announced Curless would replace him.[1]

Awards and honors

1980 "Birdland", Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices, Janis
Siegel
1980 "Birdland", Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance
1981 "Boy from New York City", Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group
With Vocal
1981 "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for
Two or More Voices, Gene Puerling
1981 "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)", Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo
or Group
1982 "Route 66", Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group
1983 "Why Not! (Manhattan Carnival)", Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo
or Group
1986 Vocalese, Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group
1986 "Another Night in Tunisia", Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More
Voices, Bobby McFerrin and Cheryl Bentyne, performed by The Manhattan Transfer
1989 Brasil, Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
1992 "Sassy", Best Contemporary Jazz Performance, Instrumental
1998 Vocal Group Hall of Fame

Discography

Albums
 Album Date released Charts
Jukin' 1971 US No. 202
The Manhattan Transfer 1975 US No. 33, UK No. 49 (1977 release)
Coming Out 1976 US No. 48, UK No. 12, AU No. 29
Pastiche US No. 66, UK No. 10, AU No. 39
1978
The Manhattan Transfer Live UK No. 4, AU No. 71
Extensions 1979 US No. 55, UK No. 63, AU No. 91
Mecca for Moderns US No. 22, AU No. 65
1981
The Best of The Manhattan Transfer US No. 103, AU No. 27
Bodies and Souls 1983 US No. 57, UK No. 53, AU No. 75
Bop Doo-Wopp 1984 US No. 127
Vocalese 1985 US No. 74
Live US No. 187
1987
Brasil US No. 98
The Offbeat of Avenues 1991 US No. 179
The Christmas Album US No. 120
1992
Anthology: Down in Birdland
The Very Best of The Manhattan Transfer US No. 157
1994
The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba
Tonin' 1995 US No. 123
Man-Tora! Live in Tokyo 1996
Swing
1997
Boy from New York City and Other Hits
The Spirit of St. Louis 2000
Couldn't Be Hotter 2003
Vibrate 2004
An Acapella Christmas 2005
The Symphony Sessions
2006
The Definitive Pop Collection
The Chick Corea Songbook 2009
The Junction 2018

[9]

Singles
 US UK
U.S.
Year Song Hot Singles AUS Canada NZ
AC
100 Chart[9]
1975 "Operator" 22 34 - - 26 -
1976 "Tuxedo Junction" - - 24 - - -
"Chanson D'Amour" - 16 1 9 - 14
1977
"Don't Let Go" - - 32 - - -
"Walk In Love" - - 12 - -
"On a Little Street in Singapore" - - 20 - - -
1978
"Where Did Our Love Go/Je Voulais Te Dire
- - 40 - -
(Que Je T'Attends)"
1979 "Who What Where When Why" - - 49 - - -
"Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone" 30 - 25 - - 15
1980
"Trickle Trickle" 73 - - - - -
"The Boy from New York City" 7 4 - 36 8 2
1981
"Smile Again" - 41 - - - -
"Spies in the Night" 103 - - - - -
1982
"Route 66" 78 22 - - - -
1983 "Spice of Life" 40 5 19 - - -
"Mystery" 102 6 - - - -
1984 "Baby Come Back to Me (The Morse Code of
83 14 - - - -
Love)"
1987 "Soul Food to Go (Sina)" - 25 - - - -
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" (with Phil
1995 - 27 - - 58 -
Collins)

Guest/soundtrack appearances
"Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo" OST (1979): "Johnny," "Jealous Eyes," "I Kiss Your Hand,
Madame" Conducted by Frank Barber/ Produced by Tim Hauser
A League of Their Own OST (1992): "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" and "On the Sunny Side of the
Street"
Home Improvement (1992): Sing "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "It Came Upon The
Midnight Clear" as part of a Tool Time Christmas special ("I'm Scheming Of A White
Christmas", Season 2).
Swing Kids OST 1993 "Bei Mir Bist du Schon" was sung by Janis Siegel
Tapestry Revisited: A Tribute to Carole King (1995) (Tribute Album) they sing "Smackwater
Jack"
White Christmas, A Pentatonix Christmas (2016) they sing with Pentatonix '

In Other Media

"Chanson d'Amour" was featured in Are You Being Served, performed by all the staff of Grace Brothers
department store in the final episode of the long running sit com.
References
1. Manhattan Transfer, November 1, 2013. "Ladies and Gentlemen ... Trist Curless!" (http://manh
attantransfer.net/). Manhattan Transfer Official Site. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
2. Weber, Bruce (17 October 2014). "Tim Hauser, the Founder of the Manhattan Transfer, Dies at
72" (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/arts/music/tim-hauser-the-founder-of-the-manhattan-
transfer-dies-at-72.html). The New York Times. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
3. Bush, John. "The Manhattan Transfer" (http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-manhattan-transfer-
mn0000674749/biography). AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
4. McNeil, Alex (1984). Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to
the Present. Penguin Books. p. 403. ISBN 0-14-00-7377-9.
5. The introduction of the song is incorrectly attributed in the liner notes to Bernard Herrmann,
who wrote the theme for Season 1 of The Twilight Zone only. The more famous Twilight Zone
theme that is used in the Manhattan Transfer song was composed by Marius Constant.
6. [1] (http://www.jazzfmbg.com/en/read_interview.php?iid=129) Archived (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20120402184146/http://www.jazzfmbg.com/en/read_interview.php?iid=129) April 2,
2012, at the Wayback Machine
7. Manhattan Transfer, November 28, 2013. "Ladies and Gentlemen ... Margaret Dorn!" (http://ma
nhattantransfer.net/). Manhattan Transfer Official Site. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
8. Dickins Geyelin, Erin. " "Java Jive" Jazz for Foodies" (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erindi
ckins/java-jive-jazz-for-foodies). Kickstarter. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
9. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World
Records Limited. p. 346. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

External links
Official site (http://www.manhattantransfer.net/)
History of The Manhattan Transfer (http://www.singers.com/jazz/manhattantransfer.html)
The Manhattan Transfer (https://www.discogs.com/artist/The+Manhattan+Transfer)
discography at Discogs

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