The+manhattan+transfer

The Offbeat Of Avenues was the twelfth album released by The Manhattan Transfer on August 13, 1991, on the Columbia Records label. This album is the first of two albums for Columbia Records. This album is also the first Manhattan Transfer album where the majority of the songs were either written or co-written by the members of the group. This album yielded the group a Grammy Award, in the category of Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for the song "Sassy". The lyrics for this song were written by Janis Siegel and Cheryl Bentyne; the music by composed by Janis Siegel and Bill Bodine.

Bop Doo-Wopp is the seventh album released by The Manhattan Transfer in 1984 on the Atlantic Records label. Six of the ten tracks on Bob Doo-Wopp are live performances. The album contained the song "Route 66" which originally appeared on the soundtrack to the Burt Reynolds' film Sharky's Machine. The album is essentially a "live" album (6 tracks) with some additional studio cuts (4 tracks). Five tracks were recorded live at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Japan in November 1983. Songs from these concerts were also released in 1996 on their album Man-Tora! Live in Tokyo. The other live cut, "Duke of Dubuque", was recorded for the Evening at Pops series on PBS. The song "Safronia B" was recorded in Sydney, Australia in December 1983. The other three songs were recorded in New York. Route 66 hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, reaching #78, and earned the group another Grammy Award in the category of "Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group."

This collection features rerecorded versions of some of the Manhattan Transfer's best-known songs, including classics like "Embraceable You," "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" as well as their inspired reworking of Weather Report's "Birdland."

This fourth album from Manhattan Transfer was the first for Cheryl Bentyne, who replaced Laurel Masse after the original singer's auto accident and subsequent decision to leave the group. Though replacing Masse was difficult, Bentyne's energy and style proved to be the perfect complement to the group's already dynamic performance…

FM Tokyo recorded these live performances, Westwood One broadcast them in the States, and Bop Doo-Wopp included five of the tracks, but the rest weren't made available to the public until 1996. Backed by their touring sextet of the time, Man-Tora!: Live in Tokyo is certainly a more spontaneous Manhattan Transfer CD than that of their carefully produced recordings, genuinely overflowing with the joy of singing with each other. Listen to their ebullient interplay on "Jeannine," with Cheryl Bentyne's chirping voice way up top for a charge that the group only delivers live.

This album took the Manhattan Transfer in a different direction from their previous releases, offering a new, revised style of their music. There were several collaborations on this album, including Stevie Wonder, Rod Temperton, and Jeremy Lubbock. Also appearing as a guest artist on the album was Frankie Valli, who appears on the song "American Pop". The final track on the album, "The Night That Monk Returned to Heaven", is a tribute to American jazz pianist Thelonious Monk.

The Ultimate Christmas Album, Vol. 5 collects more pop and rock holiday tunes, this time venturing further into the '70s and '80s with songs like Paul McCartney & Wings' "Wonderful Christmastime," Hall & Oates' "Jingle Bell Rock," and Barry Manilow's "It's Just Another New Year's Eve." The collection still features traditional pop chestnuts, including Dean Martin's "A Marshmallow World," Johnny Mathis' "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)," and Andy Williams' "Sleigh Ride," but this volume's overall feel is more contemporary than classic. Other highlights include Manhattan Transfer's "A Christmas Love Song," the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping," the Tokens' "Little Drummer Boy," and the Jackson 5's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." If The Ultimate Christmas Album, Vol. 5 isn't necessarily the most coherent volume in the series, it's certainly one of the most interesting.