Transfer uplifts the ordinary

Press, 19 February 1986, Page 16

Transfer uplifts the ordinary

By

ALLAN FRANCIS

MANHATTAN TRANSFER. Best 0f... Thirteen tracks from previous albums. ATLANTIC SD 19319.

Listening to Manhattan Transfer one is conscious of an Intensely futuristic touch that marks the group’s efforts over the past few years. Regardless of what era the numbers are taken from, the group suggests this is how that song will sound in 20 years’ time or with a little transposition how those rousing instrumental Hermanesque trail-blazers might come off. Rhythm and blues is its main platform here though. From the sneaky low blues of "Java Jive” and “Chanson d’Amour” to the frenetic “Four Brothers,” the group sticks rigidly to its own brand of arrangement and sound. The material is relatively unimportant; it is more a case of what original ways the Transfer bends the tunes to suit its purpose. It owes far more to Jon Hendricks, though, than the Andrews Sisters for example, even if their

paths cross from time to time. It is that kind of stretched out harmony,

that is the heart of Transfer’s attraction, the kind that Lambert, Hendricks and Annie Ross "pioneered in the mid-fif-ties. The instruments and the tunes are only incidental, the harmony and the treatment fill the whole picture. The driving “Four Brothers’’ of Jimmy Giuffre, from Third Herd days, scarely needs any support; the four voices of Cheryl Bentine, Tim Hauser, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel can easily cope with the rigours of that particular Journey. Indeed, Manhattan Transfer is an orchestra on its own. One could hardly accept the vulgarities of the rock and roll oddities such as “Boy from New York City” without crediting the group with the sublime power of lifting the number from its lowly rank through sheer genius of interpretation. When we reach Bernard Herman’s “Twilight

Zone” it is realised that the Transfer is having fun of the highest order. Nor are the pops of the thirties and forties sacrosanct; “Tuxedo Junction” gets the treatment of the eighties and “Body and Soul” turns into homage to Coleman Hawkins. Even the orthodox "Candy” becomes a low key version of what it always was anyway, a simple “nice” tune of the thirties. What makes Transfer so special? Why should collections such as these attract buyers to what is obviously established as musicians’ music? The answer is easy. These are some of the enduring classics of jazz that will always find a place in the repertoire. Some of the tunes they portray might readily slip into insigificance because of their trifling nature. The genius of Manhattan Transfer, however difficult to reconcile, is worth the effort that will be

amply rewarded by its permanence. BRAND NEW DAY. Paul and Colleen Trenwith and Friends. KIWI PACIFIC SLC-172. A group of a completely different genre, lead by Paul and Colleen Trenwith, brings a harmony that relies on sincerity for its existence rather than any ulterior motives. This one lies firmly in a past era, but makes no excuses for dwelling in the yesterday quality. As Radio New Zealand National Programme never leaves the category anyway, most radio listeners will appreciate the message that the Trenwiths have to offer. At least half of the programme comes from the pen of Paul, while Colleen, still firmly embedded in her Bluegrass days, has much arranging to her credit here. Her fiddle is now quietly suggesting the way, rather than providing the fireworks of her term in the sixties with the Hamilton group. The one exception, of course, comes at the end of side one with “Bluegrass Picking.”

In a world that is sadly torn with disorder of all kinds, the Trenwiths introduce a note of calm sanity, quiet optimism, which is adequately expressed in their music.