(Reprinted from the October 2022 issue of New York City Jazz Record)
On October 1, 1972, four singers—Tim Hauser, Laurel Massé, Janis Siegel and Alan Paul—stepped out officially as The Manhattan Transfer. Their idea was to apply close jazz harmonies to a genre-agnostic repertoire; just about anything could work, as long as it swung. What followed was 29 albums, double-digit Grammy wins and nominations (with Cheryl Bentyne, who replaced founding member Massé in 1979) and countless tours, film scores, television shows and big-name collaborations (at the iceberg’s tip are stars like Tony Bennett, Bette Midler, Smokey Robinson, B.B. King, Chaka Khan, James Taylor, Stéphane Grappelli, Bobby McFerrin, Chick Corea and Dizzy Gillespie). This month they depart on their final world tour, a five-month journey to introduce their newest album, Fifty (Craft Recordings/ Concord), recorded in partnership with Germany’s famed WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne.
The album reprises two well-known tracks from the height of the group’s popularity: 1977’s “Chanson D’Amour” and 1980’s “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone”. But Manhattan Transferites be forewarned: this retrospective doesn’t include renditions of their enormously successful crossover covers of “Birdland” or “The Boy From New York City”. Instead, three pitch-perfect tracks from their last album, The Junction, make the cut—“Paradise Within (Paradise Found)”, “Blues For Harry Bosch” and “The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul”. (This 2018 BMG release was the group’s first album with bass Trist Curless, replacing Hauser, who passed away in 2014.) On Fifty they also unveil a never-heard arrangement of Artie Shaw’s “The Man I Love”, the only premiere on the record. To date, the tour doesn’t include a New York show, but for a preview, see the album video of “God Only Knows”, the bittersweet Beach Boys tune about how love can transcend time.
Producer Larry Klein was very close to Leonard Cohen, especially in the last years of the composer’s life. After Cohen’s death in 2016, Klein felt drawn again and again to his enormous catalog of poetry-driven songs, so much so that he decided to create a musical testimonial to his departed friend. On October 14 Blue Note drops Here It Is: A Tribute To Leonard Cohen, a dozen masterpieces performed by an eye-popping roster of jazz, pop, folk and gospel singers including Norah Jones (“Steer Your Way”), Gregory Porter (“Suzanne”) and Luciana Souza (“Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”). Klein’s studio band hails from the same pedigree: guitarist Bill Frisell, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Nate Smith. To grab a listen before the album release, listen to James Taylor’s minimal, dark-voiced version of “Coming Back to You” on video, stream or download. Or catch Souza at Columbia University’s Miller Theater on Oct. 15, where she appears with Vince Mendoza, a contributing arranger to the Manhattan Transfer’s Fifty.
Afro-Brazilian singer-songwriter Milton Nascimento, too, has announced his retirement from touring. “I’m saying goodbye to the stage, but I’m not saying goodbye to music. I refuse to say goodbye to music,” he told The Guardian this past May. During his six-decade career, Nascimento turned out 43 trailblazing albums, several with saxophonist Wayne Shorter and keyboardist Herbie Hancock. His final tour, The Last Music Session, comes to Sony Hall on Oct. 11.
Singer Vicki Burns expands further into composing on her third release, Lotus Blossom Days (ViBu Jazz). While there is much to recommend this record—Burns’ way around a Strayhorn tune (“Bittersweet”), her comfort with a strong groove (“Out Of This World”), her informed vocal improvisations (“A Long Way To Go/Equinox”)—it’s another matter altogether to write a good tune. She presents two from her own pen on this record, the noir mid-tempo “Love Spell” and the magnetic ballad, “Siren Song.” Then, vocalist Tessa Souter’s sophisticated tune, “You Don’t Have To Believe”, gives Burns a chance to show off both her range and phrasing ability. Burns plays the Lexington Hotel, one of her regular gigs, on Oct. 20 and Pangea on Oct. 24.
The good kind of drama: Sachal Vasandani brings his spectacular vocal chops to Jazz Gallery on Oct. 1. Summer Rona immortalizes R&B phenom Teena Marie in Fire & Desire at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem on Oct. 15. And singer-dramatist Queen Ester’s danceable concert work, The Black Rose of Texas, returns to JALC Dizzy's, with vocalists Kat Edmonson, Synea Cidney Nichols and Justin Poindexter on Oct. 15-16.