Mecca For Moderns

Performer: Manhattan Transfer
Artist: Andy Norell; Tom Scott; Richie Cole; Jon Hendricks
Producer: Jay Graydon
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Manhattan Transfer: Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, Alan Paul, Cheryl Bentyne (vocals). Additional personnel includes: Jon Hendricks (vocals); Jay Gradon (electric guitar, gut string guitar, synthesizer); Steve Lukather, Dean Parks, Al Viola (guitar); Tom Scott (alto saxophone, lyricon); Richie Cole (alto saxophone); Don Roberts (tenor saxophone); Jerry Hey (trumpet); Victor Feldman (piano, Fender Rhodes piano); David Foster (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, synthesizer); Greg Mathieson (organ, synthesizer); Abraham Laboriel (bass); Steve Gadd, Mike Baird (drums); Andy Norell (steel drums, cowbell); Alex Acuna (percussion). Recorded at Dawnbreaker Studio, San Fernando, California. After the deserved artistic, critical and popular success of Extensions, the Manhattan Transfer went back to ace producer Jay Graydon for Mecca for Moderns, which almost matches its predecessor in its contemporary energy while drawing selectively from the past. Outstanding is the handclapping treatment of the 1965 rock tune "The Boy from New York City" (a number seven hit single) and the happily swinging vocalese of the Count Basie band's "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)," although their version of Charlie Parker's difficult "Confirmation" isn't nearly as assured. There is also an ample dose of the inventive weirdness that invaded Extensions: the African/Caribbean "(Wanted) Dead or Alive," with its checklist of dictators, that segues right into a tongue-in-cheek secret agent spoof, "Spies in the Night"; or the ambitious, wordless composition "Kafka." No longer a mere nostalgia act, the Manhattan Transfer had not only caught up with the times, they were now slightly ahead of them as well. ~ Richard S. Ginell

The Manhattan Transfer are one of the most popular and acclaimed vocal ensembles in all of contemporary music, with numerous platinum albums and eight Grammy Awards to their credit. While jazz is now only a part of their repertoire (pop, R&B, Brazilian, and doo-wop stylings have added to their far-reaching appeal), when the group first formed, the idea was to arrange their voices as if they were the saxophone section of the Basie Big Band. Their best work in the jazz realm also features the contributions of lyricist and fellow singer Jon Hendricks.

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