Founder and singer with the superb Manhattan Transfer has died of a
heart attack age 72.
Saw them once in Concert while on holiday in France, they were terrific to watch and listen to..
I saw them in concert once. Excellent jazz vocal quartet. I can still remember them singing "Popsicle Toes".
Birdland is something I will never forget.
RIP incredible harmonies and fantastic songs that harked back to a simpler time :HD:
"Spice of life" is my favourite...
RIP - A wonderfully talented ensemble.
"Birdman"... you're right. Outstanding.
It's always sad to see a great artist leave us, but -- really -- Manhattan Transfer was really a Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross tribute band.
Exhibit A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFsH1ZuR3-I (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFsH1ZuR3-I)
Wow, Don, I've never heard that other group. Thanks! Not sure if I would consider MH a tribute band, though. Probably somewhat influenced by them, though. I remember how MH's Alan Paul could imitate a saxophone. Great stuff. Whatever happened to diversity in radio station music? Starting about 30 years ago, and then firmly taking hold by the late 80s, station management insisted on playing increasingly limited styles of music. Content got programmed by a computer and the day's rotation was set. DJs had less and less say in what they could play during their shift. Detroit had a magnificent jazz station, WJZZ. And they took chances. Hard to find decent jazz on the radio in metro Dallas/Ft. Worth now. Occasionally, you get a college station in the evening where a kid will play jazz records. But mostly now, an art form slowly slipping into obscurity. Everything is safe and formulaic on the radio now. And with music piracy via the Internet, no one makes any money with albums/CDs anymore. They have to tour to earn a living. So many jazz artists aren't widely heard from any more. Sad, really.
I remember the first time I heard the great British jazz singer Cleo Laine. On WJZZ in Detroit. The song was "Bill", an old show tune standard. Her husband leading their small orchestra. God, that woman could sing! I could scour the radio stations throughout this major U.S. metroplex and never hear her voice for years. But Selena Gomez they will play to death. This industry's greed has done it in.
You are joking of course Don...MT a tribute ban? As FF states maybe influenced
by Lambert and co, but after watching your excellent clip I think MT would win on points.
Quote from: Mince n Tatties on October 20, 2014, 09:18:24 AM
You are joking of course Don...MT a tribute ban? As FF states maybe influenced
by Lambert and co, but after watching your excellent clip I think MT would win on points.
Different era.
Jon Hendricks essentially invented vocalese which was the basis of MT's style but with more contemporary influences added in.
Wish I liked the style more - it's one of the few areas of jazz that are a complete turn off for me.
The concept of vocalese isn't limited to an ensemble of singers. Listen to Cleo Laine sing Perdido. The runs, the punctuation. The voice as an instrument. Great stuff.
Cleo Laine - Perdido - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRwnMAlBg_w#)
