August 5, 2004
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Janis Siegel is not going to complain about working too hard these days. "It's like the summer camp for jazz musicians," the singer says about the pace summer festivals add to the schedule for her and the other three members of the Manhattan Transfer. When they appear tonight at Heinz Hall, it will be their first gig in the United States for more than a month. The band spent all of July making visits in Italy, Austria, Spain and Finland.
Siegel, one of the signature members of the band, says the quartet is eminently suited for the fun of festival stages. "We are the epitome of that," she says. "We're not specifically a jazz band. We're a party band." Such has been the story for the 33 years of the Manhattan Transfer. It's been a band that has been a guest at many jazz festivals because of its vocal versions of tunes such as the Joe Zawinul classic, "Birdland." But it also has been able to reach pop audiences with hits "Route 66," "Twilight Zone" and "The Boy from New York City."
The Manhattan Transfer has tried to do that variety of tunes and have fun, too, she says. "We have always tried to have energy and give something back to the audience," Siegel says. But, she points out, the Transfer is a band that explores the breadth of American musical harmony. The band has had the vitality to do that, she hints, partly because of the liveliness of its members. Siegel, Cheryl Bentyne, Alan Paul and Tim Hauser have been able to keep the ensemble constantly looking for new material, working steadily and winning awards, but all the while keeping their individual careers going.
The band, for instance, has a new album coming out in September, but soon is going to start work on an a cappella Christmas album to be distributed in Japan. It also is considering what to do with its next recording for wider release. Siegel, meantime, has done eight solo projects from the moody "Short Stories" with pianist Fred Hersch to her current "Sketches of Broadway," a jazzy look at show tunes. "It's great to go back and forth between the two sides," she says. "I love doing solo stuff, but I think I offer a different set of skills to the Transfer."
Siegel suggests she and Bentyne do the most work of the four as solo performers, but points out Paul and Hauser keep busy as producers and choral group leaders. They all bring clear-cut differences of thought to the Transfer. That is a strength of the band, she says, but it can heat up the relationships. "Many, many times have we gotten into arguments about what we're doing," she says. "But it always ends in a compromise or, for one reason or another, just deciding to go with one idea or another." She admits the "process of democracy is a bit time-consuming," but believes "it has led to the longevity of the group."
Posted by acapnews at August 5, 2004 7:51 AM
