The Manhattan Transfer ★★
Place and date: Jardins del Palau de Pedralbes (15/VII/2023)
Although there is some prehistory that goes back to 1969, The Manhattan Transfer de facto began its journey in 1972. This Grammy award-winning vocal group is currently developing a 50th Anniversary and Final World Tour that landed on Saturday at the Les Nits festival in Barcelona . The founder of the cast, Tim Hauser, who died in 2014, is currently made up of the original members Alan Paul and Janis Siegel, to which are added Trist Curtless and Cheryl Bentyne. In their appearance in Barcelona, they were accompanied by a more than effective quartet led by the pianist Yaron Gershovsky.
The beautiful swing trot of That cat is high began the session, on a hot night where the fans went at a thousand an hour among a quite veteran audience. Opening the jar of nostalgia, and after dedicating Java jive to the memory of the aforementioned Hauser, The Manhattan Transfer named not a few major gods in their appearance on the banks of the Diagonal. Divinities like Count Basie (well resolved Sing a study in brown ) or Glenn Miller via an I know why (and so do you ). And the great Ella Fitzgerald through an A-tisket a-tasket that stood out among the best of what was in the day's repertoire.
Our protagonists followed their path with pieces such as, among others, the most electrified Swing Balboa or Cantaloop (Flip Out), a reinterpretation of the song by the jazz-rap band Us3 which, in turn, draws on an original by Herbie Hancock. Although in Hear the voices (Bahia de todas as contas) it certainly did not kill, they came back with the later and complex in its structure Birdland, with a score by Joe Zawinul. As it should be, the round of encores became a lively finale through Cuéntame qué te pasó and the Tequila finale.
In short, it was a more than pleasant night that The Manhattan Transfer officiated on this new visit to the Catalan capital. Concert, in addition, with a certain plus of emotion. Her satisfied fans will no doubt remember her fondly despite some regret, as not all of the quartet members exhibited the same vocal form throughout their hour and a half performance.
