The Summit: The Manhattan Transfer Meets Take 6

THE SUMMIT: The Manhattan Transfer meets Take 6 is one of the most unique and thrilling musical collaborations ever assembled. With twenty Grammy Awards between them, these two musically iconic groups have joined forces to perform together. This is an event!

Unlike other music co-bills or meetings, The Manhattan Transfer and Take 6 were not content to sing a set and simply join each other for a finale. They have created musical moments on-stage – singing and performing nearly a dozen songs together – during this show. You will experience the creativity, excitement, and renowned performances that only two phenomenal groups can bring to one stage, in-the-moment.

THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER

“When it comes to vocal power, The Manhattan Transfer set the bar.”

— Dallas Morning News

Celebrating their 45th anniversary in 2017, The Manhattan Transfer continues to set the standard as one of the world’s greatest and most innovative vocal groups. Winners of ten Grammy Awards, with millions of records sold worldwide, this amazing quartet is building upon the extraordinary legacy created by founder Tim Hauser who organized the four-part harmony group on October 1, 1972 in New York City. Now consisting of Janis Siegel (alto), Alan Paul (tenor), Cheryl Bentyne (soprano), and newcomer Trist Cureless (bass) who replaced Hauser following his passing on October 16, 2014, the group is proud to extend Hauser’s vision more than four decades later.

Defying categorization, The Manhattan Transfer became the first act to win Grammy Awards in the pop and jazz categories in one year, 1981: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for “Boy From New York City” (a cover of the 1964 song by The Ad Libs), and Best Jazz Performance Duo or Group for “Until I Met You (Corner Pocket).”

Beginning with their first performances in the 1970s, the members of the Vocal Hall of Fame have become cornerstones of contemporary music, known for their amazing versatility, incorporating pop, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, swing, symphonic, and a cappella music. In their 45 years, the group has attained incredible longevity while navigating devastating obstacles. In 1978, a car accident caused original member Laurel Masse to leave the group. She was replaced by Cheryl Bentyne who made her recording debut on the 1979 Extensions album which won two Grammys for their cover of Weather Report’s “Birdland” (with lyrics by Jon Hendricks): Best Jazz Fusion Performance, Vocal or Instrumental; and Siegel won for Best Arrangement for Voices.

In 1985, The Manhattan Transfer’s Vocalese made history as the single greatest Grammy nominated album in history in one year with 12 nominations. Vocalese, which featured jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Ron Carter, and the Count Basie Orchestra, changed the perception of The Manhattan Transfer from pop singer to jazz artists. Vocalese earned two more Grammys: Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group; and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two Or More Voices for “Another Night in Tunisia” (won by Bentyne and Bobby McFerrin).

In addition to McFerrin, The Manhattan Transfer has also sung with many more great vocalists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Smokey Robinson, Bette Midler, Phil Collins, B.B. King, Chaka Khan, James Taylor, and Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons.

As The Manhattan Transfer endures with their new lineup, they’re returning to the road for a very special collaboration, joining Take 6 on The Summit Tour across the United States from October 2016 through March 2017. As the group looks to record their 30th album in 2017, the first new CD in eight years, the members are extremely enthusiastic about the future.

After 45 years, The Manhattan Transfer continues to raise the bar, and set even higher standards.

TAKE 6

Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley), heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet,” is the quintessential a cappela group and model for vocal genius. Six virtuosic voices united in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms, innovative arrangements, and funky grooves that bubble into an intoxicating brew of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop. With praise from such luminaries as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald and Whitney Houston, Take 6 is recognized as the pre-eminent a capella group in the world.

With the popularity of televised vocal competitions and the mania over singing driven comedy-dramas like Glee and Smash, Take 6 is the original torchbearer. Two major recent events reminded everyone of this as Take 6 triumphed among a gathering of stars including Celine Dion, Lionel Richie, Justin Timberlake, Stevie Nicks, and Ne-Yo. At Walmart’s 50th Anniversary celebration, Take 6 captivated the audience with their rendition of the Louis Armstrong hit, What A Wonderful World. Showing the global reach of this phenomenal group, Take 6 closed the show with Ladysmith Black Mambazo to a standing ovation! Two weeks later at the behest of legendary Producer Phil Ramone, Take 6 thrilled a sold out audience at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards performing with and honoring legendary singer-songwriter Ben E. King on his classic “Stand By Me.” As a group that knows no musical bounds, they then brought the house down with their tribute to folk icon Woody Guthrie with This Land Is Your Land.

Take 6 has come a long way from their days at Huntsville, Alabama’s Oakwood College where McKnight formed the group as The Gentleman’s Estate Quartet in 1980.  When tenor Mark Kibble heard the group rehearsing in the dorm bathroom, he joined in the harmonies and performed on stage that night. Shortly afterward, they took the name Alliance.  Yet, when they signed to Reprise Records/Warner Bros. in 1987, they found that there was another group with the same name, so they became Take 6.  Says McKnight: “It pretty much was a play on the Take 5 jazz standard and the fact that there are six of us in the group, so it became Take 6.”  Their self-titled debut CD won over jazz and pop critics, scored two 1988 Grammy Awards, landed in the Top Ten Billboard Contemporary Jazz and Contemporary Christian Charts, and they’ve never slowed down.

What’s behind Take 6’s success? The answers are direct and simple: faith, friendship, respect, and love of music. From their exceptional Christmas Show, to their innovative Symphony shows, to their new album Believe these qualities are at the heart of the Take 6 phenomenon.

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