Manhattan Transfer Will Perform in Korea For the First Time

The Manhattan Transfer, the American vocal quartet, will bring their distinctive sound to Korea for the first time this weekend. Concerts are scheduled on Saturday and Sunday nights in the Millennium Hall in Centralcity, Kangnam, south Seoul.

The group is on tour to promote its latest album, "The Spirit of St. Louis," according to Kim So-hyun, one of the concert organizers. The album is a tribute to Louis Armstrong, the 20th century jazz giant, and includes reworkings of his hits "What A Wonderful World," "Mack the Knife," "Sugar" and "A Kiss to Build a Dream On." It was released last month to mark what would have been Armstrong's 100th birthday.

"Fans have waited a long time for these concerts," Miss Kim said. The group's voices and harmonies "have been described as a gift from heaven," she said.

The members of the Manhattan Transfer are Tim Hauser (bass), Janis Siegel (alto), Alan Paul (tenor) and Cheryl Bentyne (soprano). They have been together since 1972, when Hauser formed the group after an earlier five-member Manhattan Transfer broke up.

Since the release of their first album, "The Manhattan Transfer," in 1975, the group has won eight Grammy Awards for songs or albums including "Route 66" (1982, from the album "Bop Doo-Wopp"), "Why Not!" (1983, "Bodies and Souls"), "Brasil" (1987), and "Sassy" (1991, "The Offbeat of Avenues").

"Birdland" from the group's first album has become its signature song.

An album for children － "The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba" (1994) － also received high praise. "One of the world's great jazz quartets turns a children's classic into a rediscovered treasure," said the Los Angeles Times. The group played all the parts in the story of an insecure tuba in search of a melody.

The concerts will start each night at 7 p.m. Tickets, which cost from 40,000 won to 150,000 won, are available from Ticketlink, 02-1588-7890, and from Ticketpark, 02-538-3200.

by Kim Jae-seon