Friday, May 18, 2023 10pm ET: Feature LP: Manhattan Transfer – Very Best (1994)

The Very Best Of The Manhattan Transfer is a compilation album of The Manhattan Transfer released in January 1994 on the Atlantic Records label. This album is a selection of the core songs of the group, spanning more than twenty years.

“Boy From New York City” 3:40
“Trickle Trickle” 2:20
“Gloria” 2:58
“Operator” 3:11
“Tuxedo Junction” 3:04
“Four Brothers” 3:48
“Ray’s Rockhouse” 5:08
“Soul Food to Go (Sina)” 5:15
“Spice of Life” 3:41
“Baby Come Back to Me (The Morse Code of Love)” 2:54
“Candy” 3:28
“A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square” 3:50
“Birdland” 6:01
“Java Jive” 2:46
“Route 66” 2:55
“Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” 6:06

Alan Paul
Janis Siegel
Cheryl Bentyne
Trist Curless

Past members
Tim Hauser
Laurel Massé
Erin Dickins
Gene Pistilli
Marty Nelson
Pat Rosalia

Tuesday 11/22/22 10:15pm ET: Feature LP: Manhattan Transfer – Mecca For Moderns (1981)

Mecca for Moderns is the sixth studio album by The Manhattan Transfer. It was released in June 1981 by Atlantic Records.

This album was the highest-charting album to date for the group, peaking on Billboard magazine’s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart at No. 22. With this album, the Manhattan Transfer became the first group to win Grammy Awards in both the pop and jazz categories in the same year.

1. “On the Boulevard” 4:08
2. “The Boy from New York City” 3:40
3. “(Wanted) Dead or Alive” 3:27
4. “Spies in the Night” 3:59
5. “Smile Again” 4:33
6. “Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)” 5:17
7. “(The Word of) Confirmation” 3:14
8. “Kafka” 4:08
9. “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” 3:46

Cheryl Bentyne – vocals
Tim Hauser – vocals
Alan Paul – vocals, vocal arrangement (2, 4)
Janis Siegel – vocals, vocal arrangement (6)
Victor Feldman – Fender Rhodes (1), acoustic piano (1)
Jay Graydon – synthesizers (1, 3), guitar (1-4, 8), arrangements (1, 3, 5, 8), horn arrangements (2), rhythm arrangements (2, 4, 6), vocal arrangements (4, 6)
David Foster – acoustic piano (2, 4, 5), keyboards (5), synthesizers (5)
Greg Mathieson – organ (3), synthesizers (3)
Michael Boddicker – synthesizers (4, 8)
Yaron Gershovsky – acoustic piano (6, 8)
Milcho Leviev – acoustic piano (7, 8), arrangements (7)
Steve George – synthesizers (8)
Steve Lukather – guitar (1, 4, 5)
Dean Parks – guitar (2, 8)
Al Viola – guitar (6)
Abraham Laboriel – bass (1-8)
Steve Gadd – drums (1, 3-8)
Mike Baird – drums (2)
Alex Acuña – percussion (3)
Andy Narell – cowbell (8), steel drums (8)
Don Roberts – saxophone (2)
Tom Scott – saxophone (3), Lyricon (3)
Richie Cole – saxophone (7)
Jerry Hey – trumpet (2)
Bernard Kafka – arrangements (8)
Gene Puerling – arrangements (9)
Jon Hendricks – scatting (7)

Monday 6/20/22 12am ET: Feature LP: Manhattan Transfer – Extensions (1979)

Extensions is the fifth studio album by The Manhattan Transfer, released on October 31, 1979, by Atlantic Records.

Marking a new era for the group, the album was the first one with Cheryl Bentyne, who replaced Laurel Massé in early 1979. It was also their first album with Jay Graydon in the producer’s chair. It was also the first album that contained songs that were hits in both the jazz and pop categories. The song “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” reached No. 4 on the Billboard Disco chart and No. 30 on the Hot 100. “Trickle, Trickle” reached No. 73 on the Hot 100. The album reached No. 55 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.

The most widely known song from this album, “Birdland” by Weather Report, won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Fusion Performance in 1981. Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics for the vocalese version on the album and Janis Siegel received a Grammy for her vocal arrangement of “Birdland”.

1. “Birdland” 6:00
2. “Wacky Dust” 3:10
3. “Nothin’ You Can Do About It” 4:25
4. “Coo Coo-U” 2:13
5. “Body and Soul” 4:26
6. “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” 6:05
7. “Trickle Trickle” 2:19
8. “Shaker Song” 4:30
9. “Foreign Affair” 3:54

Cheryl Bentyne – vocals, arrangements (7)
Tim Hauser – vocals, arrangements (4, 7, 8), vocal arrangement (8)
Alan Paul – vocals, arrangements (6, 7)
Janis Siegel – vocals, vocal arrangement (1, 2, 8), arrangements (7, 8)
Michael Omartian – acoustic piano (1, 7), rhythm arrangements (1)
Michael Boddicker – synthesizers (1, 4, 6), synthesizer programming (2), vocoder (4)
Greg Mathieson – synthesizers (2), bass (2), rhythm arrangements (2, 8), synth solo (3), arrangements (4), acoustic piano (8), Fender Rhodes (8)
David Foster – acoustic piano (3), synthesizers (3), arrangements (3)
Ian Underwood – synthesizers (3)
Jay Graydon – vocal arrangements (2), synthesizers (3), guitar (3, 6, 7), arrangements (3, 6, 7), muted guitars (6), guitar solo (6), additional vocals (6), gut-string guitar (8), synthesizer programming (8)
Bill Mays – acoustic piano (5)
Jai Winding – acoustic piano (6)
Jimmy Wyble – rhythm guitar (2)
Steve Lukather – rhythm guitar (6)
Dean Parks – guitar (7), electric guitar (8)
David Hungate – bass (1, 2, 3, 6)
Chuck Domanico – bass (5)
Abraham Laboriel – bass (7)
Andy Muson – bass (8)
Ralph Humphrey – drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 7)
Jeff Porcaro – drums (1, 6), anvil (6), bongos (6)
Alex Acuña – drums (8)
Paulinho da Costa – congas (7), percussion (8)
Richie Cole – alto saxophone (1), alto sax solo (8)
Don Roberts – piccolo flute (6), tenor sax solo (7)
Phil Mattson – arrangements (5)
Gene Puerling – arrangements (9)
Clare Fischer – conductor (9)

Tuesday 11/23/21 1pm ET: Feature Artist: Manhattan Transfer

The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award-winning jazz vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music.

There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, with Tim Hauser the only person to be part of both. The first group consisted of Hauser, Erin Dickins, Marty Nelson, Pat Rosalia, and Gene Pistilli. The second version of the group, formed in 1972, consisted of Hauser, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Laurel Massé. In 1979, Massé left the group after being badly injured in a car accident and was replaced by Cheryl Bentyne. The group’s long-time pianist, Yaron Gershovsky, accompanied the group on tour and served as music director. Trist Curless from the Los Angeles a cappella group m-pact became a permanent member in October 2014 following Hauser’s death.