Originally formed in 1969, The Manhattan Transfer were, and arguably still are, the most popular jazz vocal group of their time, and the most talented of any since the heyday of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross during the early ’60s. The group became popular after appearances at a few New York hotspots, and recorded their own debut, an eponymous LP recorded with help from the jazz world. The Manhattan Transfer’s next two albums, Coming Out and Pastiche, minimized the jazz content in favor of covers from around the music community, from Nashville to Los Angeles to Motown. Throughout the 1980s, the group balanced retreads from all aspects of American song. The 1981 LP Mecca for Moderns gained Manhattan Transfer their first American Top Ten hit with a cover of the Ad Libs’ 1965 girl-group classic “The Boy from New York City”. The album also earned Manhattan Transfer honors as the first artist to receive Grammys in both the pop and jazz categories in the same year. The group’s 1985 tribute to vocal pioneer Jon Hendricks, titled Vocalese, marked a shift in Manhattan Transfer’s focus. The band followed that effort with 1987’s Brasil, 1994’s Tubby the Tuba (a children’s record), 1995’s Tonin’ (’60s R&B), and 1997’s Swing. The Manhattan Transfer continues to tour and entertain audiences across the globe.
