[Dixielandjazz] Manhattan Transfer reviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

Perhaps not OKOM but certainly MKOM.  

Manhattan Transfer Delivers Smooth Christmas Show
by Thomas Kintner
Hartford Courant, December 17, 2010

The Manhattan Transfer has been a stalwart provider of jazz vocals to the mainstream
for nearly 40 years, assembling rich harmonies into accessible packages. The vocal
quartet's Christmas show Wednesday at the Palace Theater in Waterbury was a cool
celebration of the season, mellow and classy as it strung together voices into charming
sonic patchworks.
With a subdued four-piece band for support, the singers had plenty of room to weave
their parts, and did so into sweet, complementary arrangements like those that propelled
the bouncy, straight-on jazz opener "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." After a nimble
interlude in that initial number, Alan Paul crooned an easygoing lead to the early
portions of "The Christmas Song," and soon gave way to Janis Siegel as she played
gently with the song's cadence.
Favorites from the group's catalog were given equal play in the program, and ranged
from the tight interlocking of voices alongside the easy gait of "Route 66" to the
percolating "Java Jive," with group founder Tim Hauser, 69 this week, providing a
small prod to its placid flow. When Siegel worked out "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," her vocal
pyrotechnics were carefully contoured, wrapped in the tune's sturdy bounce.
All of the show's tidings were of the secular variety, including a patient rendition
of "Let It Snow" draped in Yaron Gershovsky's trickling piano. The simple elegance
of his playing made for lustrous accompaniment to Cheryl Bentyne's individual vocal
showcase, a poised, formal offering of "I Love New York at Christmas."
Each of the singers took a similar solo turn, and ranged from Hauser's comfortable
saunter through "Christmas Night in Harlem" to Paul's charming, understated "Violets
for Your Furs," his voice particular to the point of being near-finicky, yet still
full of feeling atop Steve Hass' brushed drums. Siegel's "Sleigh Ride" was a trumpet
blast of crisp tone, lively even when she lost track of its lyrics and had to change
gears to a song-saving scat along the way.
The group dipped into its recent Chick Corea tribute project for a lively rendering
of "Spain (I Can Recall)," percussive harmonies swooping and diving with composure
across its sprightly backdrop. A closer of the act's signature "Birdland" followed,
highlighted by Siegel's dexterous vocal filigree as it charged to a finish. An encore
of the toe-tapping 1976 single "Tuxedo Junction" was peppered with small workouts
for each singer, always returning to the common territory in which they coalesce
into a multi-layered enticement, each voice merging with the others without forfeiting
its own character.
__________
The Manhattan Transfer's Wednesday set list: "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "The
Christmas Song," "Route 66," "Java Jive," "Let It Snow," "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," "It's
Good Enough to Keep (Air Mail Special)," "I Love New York at Christmas," "Christmas
Night in Harlem," "White Christmas," "A Christmas Love Song," "Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas," "Violets for Your Furs," "Sleigh Ride," "Merry Christmas, Baby,"
"Spain (I Can Recall)," "Birdland," (Encore) "Tuxedo Junction."


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
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