The Junction (BMG)
The Manhattan Transfer
Released March 30, 2018
Jazziz Critics’ Picks 2018
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Remembering Tim Hauser and welcoming Trist Curless, The Manhattan Transfer has embraced new dynamic and fresh possibilities for their legendary sound in this eclectic new recording produced by five-time Grammy winner Mervyn Warren.
“The concept behind THE JUNCTION is this special meeting place – a junction merging our four and a half decade musical legacy with something new,” says Alan Paul. “It wasn’t exactly a seamless transition because Tim is irreplaceable, he and Trist are very different singers. We weren’t looking to replace Tim’s unique personality, but found in Trist someone who could add a new element to the group, and take care of the bottom of the quartet with his true bass.”
“It’s a whole different ball game, but one we feel is still musically very viable and exciting,” Janis Siegel adds.
Curless reflects, “My personal desire was that the album would sound like The Manhattan Transfer, keeping with what they’ve done, but bringing a new energy that would come naturally with my strengths as an artist, becoming a part of theirs.”
The songs The Manhattan Transfer have chosen are rife with cool new musical twists and Warren’s sparkling vocal arrangements, perfectly reflect the band’s forward-thinking aesthetic.
Cheryl Bentyne penned sly lyrics to saxophonist Grace Kelly’s moody, film noir-ish “Blues for Harry Bosch” which reference numerous classic detective movies. Paul co-write “Swing Balboa (Down on Riverside)” mixing the classic Balboa swing sound with edgy, modern electro-swing. Siegel co-wrote and sings lead on the hip, uptempo Shake Your Boogie (Galactic Vocal Version), whose story cleverly incorporates a playful element of Star Wars. And Curless brings us to The Junction – an homage to the TMT classic Tuxedo Junction.
TMT finds new joy in harmonizing the classic rap of Us3’s early 90’s hip-hop/jazz hit “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)” – based on Herbie Hancock’s soul-jazz treasure “Cantaloop Island” – which the quartet fashions into Cantaloop (Flip Out!). They also bring newfound pleasures and a party energy to the crowd pleaser, Tequila: The Way of the Booze, with lyrics by Paul. Balancing these optimistic bursts are more pointed social commentaries – XTC’s The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul and Rickie Lee Jones’ harmonically dissonant Ugly Man. “As the work on this album reflects — democracy is the fabric of the group. It has been from the beginning,” says Bentyne. “We all have a different take on music and appreciate different styles, so each member brings something to the table that is unique. We have tremendous faith in that process. This album is completely us, a true snapshot of who we are right now, having survived so many hardships, but looking forward to exciting new chapters in the band’s story. We give great credit to Mervyn Warren, without whom this project would not have come together as beautifully as it did. His participation, oversight, brilliant arrangements and production helped us make one of our strongest musical statements ever.”
Track Listing:
1. Cantaloop (Flip Out!) (Herbie Hancock / Rahsaan Kelly / Mel Simpson / Geoff Wilkinson) 04:43
2. Swing Balboa (Down on Riverside) (Don Breithaupt / Alan Paul) 03:11
3. The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul (Andy Partridge) 03:49
4. Blues for Harry Bosch (Cheryl Bentyne / Grace Kelly) 04:24
5. Shake Ya Boogie (Adam Dornblum / Janis Siegel) 04:23
6. Sometimes I Do (Mervyn Warren) 04:54
7. Ugly Man (Rickie Lee Jones) 04:48
8. The Junction (Trist Curless / Christopher Harrison / Mervyn Warren) 04:56
9. Tequila/The Way of the Booze (Daniel Flores / Alan Paul) 03:04
10. The Paradise Within (Paradise Found) (Les Baxter / Alan Paul) 05:00
Personnel:
Janis Siegel: lead vocals (5, 7, 8, 9), backing vocals (2)
Alan Paul: lead vocals (2, 6, 9), voiceover (4)
Cheryl Bentyne: lead vocals (1, 4, 9), voiceover (4)
Trist Curless: lead vocals (3, 8, 9)
Mervyn Warren: programming (1-10), keyboards (2, 4, 5, 7-10), piano (3, 6), bass (3)
Paul Jackson, Jr.: guitar (1, 6, 9)
Yaron Gershovsky: piano (1)
Don Breithaupt: drum programming (2), keyboards (2)
Eddie Ellis: guitar (2)
Brandon Fields: saxophone (2, 3, 9)
Knox Summerour: flugelhorn (3), trumpet (9)
Grace Kelly: saxophone (4)
Scott Frankfurt: drums (4), percussion (4)
Mocean Worker: keyboards (5), drum programming (5)
Brian Benning: violin (6, 9, 10)
Can Canbolat: strings (6, 10)
Jen Simone: strings (6, 10)
Ray Reinebach: strings (10)
Luisito Quintero: percussion (7)
Christopher Harrison: keyboards (8), drum programming (8)
Recorded at Leapyear Studio, Los Angeles
Produced by Mervyn Warren
Reording Engineers: David Das, Matt Lapointe, Tony Shepperd, and Wayne Peet
Additional Vocals Engineers: Dave Thomas and Paul Kozel
Assisted by Andrew Bregman, Kenny Tye
Mixed by Scott Frankfurt
Design: Mary Sue Englund, BLU Design Concepts
Review:
Across nearly five decades, the Manhattan Transfer has always been the most musically versatile of vocal groups, traveling from the retro artfulness of their early days to the pop-redefining sass of Tonin’, and from the acrobatics of Vocalese to stellar navigations of the Louis Armstrong and Chick Corea songbooks. This time around, necessity proved the mother of reinvention. The group’s first album in nine years, The Junction is also its first since the 2014 death of founder Tim Hauser, who’s replaced by Trist Curless, formerly with the L.A.-based ensemble m-pact. The harmonies are as tight as ever, the vocal faculty and pliability of Janis Siegel, Alan Paul and Cheryl Bentyne still sterling, with Curless ably filling Hauser’s bass chair while lending plenty of freshly inventive touches.
True to the group’s varied past, The Junction is a trans-genre pastiche, opening with the Us3 jazz-rap hit “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia),” with its clever references to Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island.” There’s a delightful cocktail of “Tequila” and Paul’s “The Way of the Booze”; Paul also contributes the hard-driving “Swing Balboa,” with Siegel adding the funky “Shake Ya Boogie.” Bentyne shaped lyrics to Grace Kelly’s “Blues for Harry Bosch,” a slyly noirish salute to author Michael Connelly’s celebrated gumshoe, featuring Kelly on alto saxophone. Amid all the exuberant fun, XTC’s “The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul” and Rickie Lee Jones’ “Ugly Man” provide introspective interludes. And the all-stops-pulled title track, nodding to their signature “Tuxedo Junction,” joyfully celebrates the group’s seemingly limitless musical vocabulary.
Christopher Loudon (JazzTimes)
