Manhattan Transfer's Kafka
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JMAR5
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Dave said:
Brasil by MT is one of my favorite albums of theirs. I really prefer the non bee bop/swing/vocalese/acappella albums they did. Such as this one Brasil and Bodies & Souls, Tonin, Coming Out, Extensions, Mecca for Moderns and the Offbeat of Avenues. I think the Transfer are a great vocal group, but sometimes I think they focus on really old styles way too much. I would buy more of their albums if they would stop trying to sound like a flashback to the 40's or 50's.
One more thing about their Brasil album from 1987. It's a really different Brasillian album than the typical bossa novaesque album that most artists do. I of course love love love bossa nova, but I really think the Transfer were quite experimental and creative with what they did on this album. Now with that said, I would love for them to do a tribute album to Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Sergio or Stan Getz.
Dave
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JMAR5 said:
Well, the "throwback to the '40's and '50's" were what Manhattan Transfer were really about... I really prefer the more nostalgic sounds of their songs done in the manner of Big Band Vocal Groups, than any ordinary modern Pop pablum...
Their cover of Todd Rundgren's "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference" from Comin' Out stands out as one example... It seems to close to the original in terms of structure, save for it being arranged for four voices, but Todd already produced the album the Hello People had done it on, and the only real difference is four male voices VS. two male, two female... Some Canadian artist covered "It Wouldn't Have Made...", whose name I can't think of at the moment, and for a long time thought it WAS Todd singing it... (The synthesizer doodles in the song gave me the wrong impression... But it was out of loyalty, the radio station, which is actually in Canada, towards its own performers which should'a told me of a "DIFFERENCE", as I finally did hear Todd's original on a compilation I bought thereafter, satisfying my curiosity about the song...)
Back to M/T, a good group, and still some of their albums I have yet to hear, such as the Brasilian one, and I saw a used copy of Tonin' which I should'a snatched up... Judiciously selected material, well-arranged, but I must admit that a few of their interpretations of newer songs, especially without their '40's/'50's bent, have been, to me, sub-par...
Atlantic really knew they had a good thing going, when they signed Manhattan Transfer and Bette Midler to their roster of artists, especially ones that can bring nostalgia, Vaudeville-revival and old-fashioned camp to later decades, where these styles had been almost completely long-forgotten...
Dave
JMAR5 said:
Brasil and Vocalese are my two overwhelming favorites. Brasil was neat as they had set new English vocals to existing Brazilian songs. (Actually, many lyrics were done by Doug Fieger, former frontman of The Knack.)
Vocalese is one of their masterpieces IMHO. Well-known jazz improvisational solos transcribed into vocal form, with a lot of help from Jon Hendricks. "To You" is really lush in a goosebump sort of way with its eight-part harmonies, as they team up with the Four Freshmen on this one--it could be my favorite on the album.
I think what kills later albums for me is the heavy use of synthesizers on some of the tracks, sounding too painfully modern with their vocals. IMHO their style works best with acoustic instruments.
Dave
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Carl Wiser w/ Songfacts -- Interview with Jay Graydon, session guitarist who was present on numerous Manhattan Transfer sessions; an excerpt... Few words from the interview w/ Jay on "Kafka"...:
Dave
inkshield:
SF: Yeah, you did a great job on that. What about the song "Kafka"?
Jay: There was a guy named Bernard Kafka that was a friend of the Transfer's. He had this little piece of music they played me, and they wanted to record it. I said, "This is not complete. It needs another section or two." And I remember sitting down and writing another section. I can't remember if Kafka was around or not, but I said, "Man, we need this. This has got to be part of it." And everything worked out.
Read entire interview here:
http://www.songfacts.com/int/2008/10/jay-graydon.html
Jay: There was a guy named Bernard Kafka that was a friend of the Transfer's. He had this little piece of music they played me, and they wanted to record it. I said, "This is not complete. It needs another section or two." And I remember sitting down and writing another section. I can't remember if Kafka was around or not, but I said, "Man, we need this. This has got to be part of it." And everything worked out.
Read entire interview here:
http://www.songfacts.com/int/2008/10/jay-graydon.html
Dave
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