Published on Dec 26, 2006
I hate it when I forget about a band I like.
I have always enjoyed the a cappella work of The Manhattan Transfer and yet I own absolutely nothing by them. Somehow, when I’m stalking iTunes or record stores, the cool vocal jazz of Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, Cheryl Bentyne and Janis Siegel slips my mind. And I hate that.
So, kudos to the good folks at Rhino (who, incidentally, have gone from hawking '70s box sets to providing interesting original music in their own right, and yay for them) for bringing the Transfer back to my attention. The Symphony Sessions pairs Manhattan Transfer’s four-part harmony with the Prague City Symphony, and it’s a delight.
There are few real surprises on The Symphony Sessions; even my cursory knowledge of The Manhattan Transfer’s discography recognizes most of these songs. The production is slick, elegant and clean, with the vocal interplay being the focus of the CD. The orchestral music doesn’t hide or muddy up the music, but supports it without overwhelming it. It is, in a word, perfect.
From the opening cut, the Bobby Troup standard “Route 66,” The Symphony Sessions is all about the kind of music that makes you swing, relax and desire to hang out in a Damon Runyon novel — which is as it should be. They mix other people’s standards – ranging from Gershwin’s “Embraceable You” to Rufus Wainwright’s “Vibrate” — with their own signature tunes like “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square” and the unbelievably complex “Birdland.”
My favorite by far, however, is a song I’d never heard before, “The Offbeat Of Avenues,” which has utterly mind-blowing harmonies and incredibly intricate lyrical work backed up with an infectious backbeat. Talk about music that will blow your socks off; this will do it, no problem.
Fans should snap this up immediately, and those who haven’t had the pleasure should check it out. The Symphony Sessions is The Manhattan Transfer at their best, and that’s pretty damned good.
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