Search - Manhattan Transfer :: Swing

Linda C. from CRESCENT CITY, CA
Reviewed on 11/12/2006...

New Condition

0 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.

The real thing, the real swing, it belongs in every home!

Tony Thomas | SUNNY ISLES BEACH, FL USA | 12/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Too often vocal groups attempting swing get too cutsy, and tend to emphasize the pop aspects of Swing. This is not that.



This is the vocalese heirs of Lambert Hendricks and Ross blowing hard with their singing on all of these swing tunes as a great vocalese group. They mimick the arrangements, or create their new ones in the ensemble singing here.



If that isn't enough they have not the usual studio groups that accompany them, but a bunch of Swing stars and neoswingers accompanying them. My favorite here is Stephen Grappelli who does some nice work here. No less than Mark O'Conner, the great classical and bluegrass fiddler and composer, and Buddy Emmons join the Transfer for a live cut. It is also interesting that Ricky Scaggs does a lot of the rhythm guitar playing on this CD.



Of course, my friends in Asleep at the Wheel who would be terrific if they presented themselves as a jazz group, add an excitement I adore. On most selections, Asleep at the Wheel provides the basic band along with the Transfer's rhythm section. They also add to the harmony of the Transfer in several places. If you are a deep ASAW fan, you will be happy to know that this CD was made when the great Cindy Cashdollar was still with the band. She does some very nice fills and obligatoes on a number of the slower tunes. Working with the Transfer adds just like working with any good soloist or combo does.



If you are into chord rhythm guitar playing, a sometimes lost and forgotten art, you will delight in the standout work that is done on every cut of this album. Myself, I am thrilled with the work that Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel does on the selections he plays on. In the Wheel he usually ends up having to carry a big burden of both the singing and solo work, or is playing the kind leads and fills that typify Western Swing. Here, on the selections with Asleep at the Wheel, Ray is often the only guitarist, but creates a wonderful solid rhythm that matches what comes on other cuts where there are several guitarists.



The Transfer is not just a group that does a cute trick singing words to Jazz solos, but important improvisers, arrangers and soloists in their own right. They add somethign new musically, not just vocally!



All in all, this is about 500 times more swinging and useful than all the sad, pretentious, unswinging and musically ignorant neoswing that got served up in the 1990s.



This is the real thing, the real swing"

....definitely worth the wait!

loe601 | Hendersonville, NC, USA | 09/26/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been an enthusiastic fan of the Manhattan Transfer since I first heard them in 1985, and own all but one of their many recordings.Recently, I stood in line at the fabulous Biltmore Estate for three hours to get a first come, first serve front row center seat for their outdoor show there. Their swinging, happy-go-lucky rendition of "A-Tisket-A-Tasket" from this great CD alone was worth the wait.That cut, plus the incomparably dreamy "Clouds" with its Stephane Grappelli solo, and smoothly blended teamwork with Asleep At the Wheel on the smokin' "Choo-Choo Ch-Boogie" make this a not-to-be-passed-up CD for any lover of swing. This is simply unmatched harmonious vocals and get-your-body-moving swing."