Manhattan Jazz Quartet

A Greek-only premium compilation, released with the music magazine "Jazz & Tzaz" (Issue 46-47).
Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Bill Evans and others.

You are encouraged to accept this invitation to the DVD party of the Manhattan Transfer's 'Vocalese Live' featuring Cheryl Bentyne, Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, and Janis Siegel and recorded live at Nakano Sun Plaza Hall, Tokyo. All you have to do to RSVP is get yourself a copy of this live event featuring one of the best contemporary Vocal Jazz groups of our time.
Riding a wave of nostalgia in the '70s, the Manhattan Transfer resurrected jazz trends from boogie-woogie to bop to vocalese in a slick, slightly commercial setting that sometimes failed to gel with the group's close harmonies. Originally formed in 1969, the quartet recorded several albums of jazz standards as well as much material closer to R&B/pop.

Riding a wave of nostalgia in the '70s, the Manhattan Transfer resurrected jazz trends from boogie-woogie to bop to vocalese in a slick, slightly commercial setting that balanced the group's close harmonies. Originally formed in 1969, the quartet recorded several albums of jazz standards as well as much material closer to R&B/pop.

2011 two CD collection from the Jazz/Pop vocal quartet. Formed in New York City in 1969, The Manhattan Transfer rose to the top of the UK charts in 1977 with 'Chanson D'Amour,' a record that kicked off a love affair between the British public and the vocal quartet. They racked up eight further UK chart entries, all of which are included in this 40-track retrospective. Effortlessly switching from Rock 'n' Roll to Pop, Bebop, old time Gospel, Bossa Nova and '30s Jazz Swing, this set demonstrates why The Manhattan Transfer are considered the most versatile vocal harmony group on the planet.

Although Manhattan Transfer have released other live albums, the collections were scattershot affairs that mainly focused on their '80s pop experiments or Vocalese-era jazz numbers that never really coalesced into one solid, perfectly performed concert recording. Twenty-eight years after their debut album, Manhattan Transfer finally capture the magic of their live performances on disc with the appropriately titled Couldn't Be Hotter. This generous 16-track collection, culled from concerts recorded at Tokyo's Orchard Hall in 2000, focuses on the pure vocal jazz that initially brought attention to the group back in the early '70s.

Like many of Ornette Coleman's Atlantic sides, The Art of the Improvisers was recorded in numerous sessions from 1959-1961 and assembled for the purpose of creating a cohesive recorded statement. Its opening track, "The Circle with the Hole in the Middle," from 1959, with the classic quartet of Don Cherry, Ed Blackwell, and Charlie Haden, is one of Coleman's recognizable pieces of music. Essentially, the band is that quartet with two very notable exceptions: The last tracks on each side feature a different bass player. On the end of side one, the great Scott LaFaro weighs in on "The Alchemy of Scott La Faro," and Jimmy Garrison weighs in on "Harlem's Manhattan" to close the album out. These last two sessions were recorded early in 1961, in January and March respectively. As an album, The Art of the Improvisers is usually undervalued when placed next to This Is Our Music or The Shape of Jazz to Come.

With 2022's Fifty, Grammy-winning vocal quartet the Manhattan Transfer celebrate their 50th birthday in illustrious fashion, collaborating with Germany's WDR Funkhausorchester. Founded in the 1960s by the late Tim Hauser, the Manhattan Transfer helped repopularize '40s-style vocal harmony jazz, swing, and traditional pop, all while incorporating contemporary pop and dance elements. Here, original members Janis Siegel and Alan Paul, along with longtime member Cheryl Bentyne and Trist Curless (who joined after Hauser's passing in 2014), look back on the group's albums and revisit some of their favorite songs.