The Manhattan Transfer Keep On Harmonizing - Here!

Stewart and Tricia Macpherson proudly presents 10-time GRAMMY Award winning group

The Manhattan Transfer At The Civic

Friday February 22 and The Michael Fowler Centre Wellington, Saturday February 23, 2013. Tickets go on sale Saturday December

1st through the venue’s usual outlets (Civic – through Edge Ticketing www.buytickets.co.nz and MFC through www.ticketek.co.nz). Both shows start at 8:00 p.m. The Manhattan Transfer will perform the entire show.

The group that just keeps on harmonizing is famous for mixing jazz and popular music styles. The Manhattan Transfer is Cheryl Bentyne, Tim Hauser, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel. The Manhattan Transfer will perform with their touring band in a concert that will feature many of their hit songs such as Birdland, Operator, Tuxedo Junction, Chanson d’Amour, The Boy from New York City and many more.

For more than 40 years this enduring group has played clubs and concert halls; done commercials and had their own TV Show – but whatever they are and wherever they do it, it's always with that signature sound: four-part harmony, tight, precise and going strong.

Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel and Alan Paul have been around from the start. Cheryl Bentyne signed on in 1978 (replacing Laurel Massé who in 1978 was injured in a near fatal car accident – and now enjoys a successful solo career).

"People see in us something that they wish there was more of in the world, which is harmony," said Siegel. "And no matter how technologically advanced the music business becomes, I think people will always still want to hear the sound of the human voice, especially raised in harmony." They've harmonized with gospel and all kinds of jazz, including vocalese where they improvise to instruments like trombones and saxophones and add new lyrics.

"What you want to do is really emanate the emotions, the feeling that was there," said Alan Paul. But their favorite genre is doo-wop - inner city rhythm and blues. Tim Hauser grew up on it in the Fifties: "I started studying and I got it after a while, and the more I got it, the larger it grew inside of me."

Asked by fans as to how they've managed to remain relevant, Hauser said, "We're the real deal. I mean, I certainly don't rely on my glamour, you know? And we're obviously not chasing trends - that's pretty obvious. I mean -we stick to what we've always been."

The platinum selling, world-wide chart topping vocal quartet, widely renowned for broadening the musical landscape with their innovative sound, made GRAMMY history in 1981 by becoming the first group to win GRAMMYs simultaneously in both the jazz and pop categories. The group also put out the second most honoured album in pop history in 1985 with Vocalese, earning an impressive 12 GRAMMY nominations, surpassed only by Michael Jackson's Thriller at the time. Produced by Tim Hauser, Vocalese became known as the group's tour de force, with Jon Hendricks composing all of the lyrics for the album. To date, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER has won 10 GRAMMYs and has been nominated for 17 GRAMMYs.

THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER are responsible for bringing Brazilian music to American radio stations and for introducing Bob Marley and The Wailers to American TV audiences. In its burgeoning years, the group developed a strong cult following while playing New York clubs like Trude Heller's, Reno Sweeney, and Max's Kansas City and other cutting edge venues- often some of the world’s leading artists like Mick Jagger and David Bowie were in the audience. In 1975 they released their Atlantic debut album (signed by the legendary Ahmet Ertegun), entitled The Manhattan Transfer, and had their own TV show on CBS. The group was particularly successful in Europe, where their next two albums, Coming Out and Pastiche, brought them a string of top 10 hits. A live album - The Manhattan Transfer Live - soon followed.

Their next album, Extensions, earned them their first US pop hit: "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone," penned by Alan Paul and Jay Graydon and featuring their version of the hit song Birdland. The most played jazz recording of 1980, "Birdland" brought The Manhattan Transfer their first GRAMMY Award (Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental), and the award for Best Arrangement For Voices. In the following decade, the group released a number of successful albums. Forty years later, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER arguably remain the most respected and honoured vocal quartet today, after topping both the Downbeat and Playboy "Best Jazz Vocal Group" polls consecutively for a decade from 1980 - 1990.

Last in New Zealand in 2005, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER enthralled audiences at their sell-out shows with their highly accomplished multi-genre repertoire of music. The Manhattan Transfer remain a cornerstone of the jazz community as well as the main-stream music community world-wide.

Earlier this year, The Manhattan Transfer were delighted to announce that Cheryl Bentyne was back after an arduous fight with cancer, during which time Margaret Dom stepped in. “Cheryl rejoined us for our European show dates in July 2012 and she’s back where she belongs. She is doing well, sounding as marvellous as ever and, most importantly, is cancer free!” the group announced.
During a prolific career spanning four decades the group has released 28 albums between 1975 and 2010 starting with The Manhattan Transfer in 1975. In 2010 the group celebrated their 40 years together with a new CD The Chick Corea Songbook that entered the Billboard charts at #5.

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