Janis Siegel | |
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Background information | |
Born | Brooklyn, New York | July 23, 1952
Genres | Vocal jazz, a cappella, pop |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active | 1965–present |
Labels | Atlantic, Varèse Sarabande, Monarch, Telarc, Palmetto, ACT |
Website | www |
Janis Siegel (born July 23, 1952) is a multiple grammy-winning American jazz singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer.
In 1965, Siegel made her recording debut with a group called Young Generation on Red Bird Records. After one single, "The Hideaway", the group disbanded, and then Siegel went on to join the folk trio The Loved Ones (later Laurel Canyon).
In 1972, after the original Manhattan Transfer had disbanded, founder Tim Hauser met Siegel at a party. After recording some demos, she agreed to join the group, and on October 1, 1972, the Manhattan Transfer was reformed. This incarnation of the group has enjoyed international popularity, covering songs from the 1930s through the 1980s in a variety of genres including jazz fusion, R&B, pop, and doo wop. The group has received 10 Grammy Awards during Siegel's ongoing tenure, and was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003. [1]
In addition to her work with the Transfer, Siegel has maintained a solo career, releasing her first album, Experiment in White, in 1982.
In 1985, Siegel joined Jon Hendricks, Bobby McFerrin and Dianne Reeves in a group called Sing, Sing, Sing. In 2015, she released Honey & Air, a collaboration with John DiMartino and Nanny Assis as the Requinte Trio. She has also been a member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra.
She won 10 Grammys as a member of the Manhattan Transfer. Her second solo album, At Home (1987), was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female.
In 1993, Siegel was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music. [2]
The 28th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1986, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year, 1985. The night's big winner was USA for Africa's "We Are the World", which won four awards, including Song of the Year which went to Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. It marked the first time in their respective careers that they received the Song of the Year Award. For Richie, it was his sixth attempt in eight years. The other three awards for the latter single were given to the song's producer, Quincy Jones.
Robert Keith McFerrin Jr. is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and conductor. His vocal techniques include singing fluidly but with quick and considerable jumps in pitch—for example, sustaining a melody while also rapidly alternating with arpeggios and harmonies—as well as scat singing, polyphonic overtone singing, and improvisational vocal percussion. He performs and records regularly as an unaccompanied solo vocal artist. He has frequently collaborated with other artists from both the jazz and classical scenes.
Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation.
The Manhattan Transfer is an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like A cappella, Brazilian jazz, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, pop, and standards. They have won eleven Grammy Awards.
John Carl Hendricks, known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists, such as the big-band arrangements of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He is considered one of the best practitioners of scat singing, which involves vocal jazz soloing. Jazz critic and historian Leonard Feather called him the "Poet Laureate of Jazz", while Time dubbed him the "James Joyce of Jive". Al Jarreau called him "pound-for-pound the best jazz singer on the planet—maybe that's ever been".
Fred Hersch is an American jazz pianist, composer, and a 17-time Grammy nominée. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than 75 of his jazz compositions.
Douglas Purviance is a jazz trombonist. He began his professional career as a member of the Stan Kenton Orchestra, playing bass trombone and tuba from 1975 to 1977. Mostly, he works as a studio session bass trombonist and is not known for improvising.
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
Russell Malone is an American jazz guitarist. He began working with Jimmy Smith in 1988 and went on to work with Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall throughout the 1990s.
George Mraz was a Czech-born American jazz bassist and alto saxophonist. He was a member of Oscar Peterson's group, and worked with Pepper Adams, Stan Getz, Michel Petrucciani, Stephane Grappelli, Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Raney, Chet Baker, Joe Henderson, John Abercrombie, John Scofield, and Richie Beirach, among others.
The Manhattan Transfer is the second album by The Manhattan Transfer. However, it is the first of four albums to be released by the lineup of Tim Hauser, Laurel Massé, Alan Paul, and Janis Siegel, and the first to establish the sound and style for which the group would become known. It was released on April 2, 1975, by Atlantic Records and was produced by Ahmet Ertegün and Tim Hauser.
Extensions is the fifth studio album by the Manhattan Transfer, released on October 31, 1979, by Atlantic Records.
Mecca for Moderns is the sixth studio album by the Manhattan Transfer. It was released in 1981 by Atlantic Records.
Vocalese is the ninth studio album by Jazz band The Manhattan Transfer, released on September 3, 1985 on Atlantic Records. Recording sessions took place during 1985. Production came from Tim Hauser and Martin Fischer. This album is considered to be The Manhattan Transfer's most critically acclaimed album. It received 12 Grammy nominations, making it second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller as the most nominated individual album. It also received extremely high ratings from music critics, including a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating from Allmusic. The album peaked at number 2 on the Top Jazz Albums and number 74 on the Billboard 200. The album's title Vocalese refers to a style of music that sets lyrics to previously recorded jazz instrumental pieces. The vocals then reproduce the sound and feel of the original instrumentation. Jon Hendricks, proficient in this art, composed all of the lyrics for this album.
Vibrate is the nineteenth studio album by The Manhattan Transfer. It was released on September 28, 2004 on Telarc International Corporation.
San Francisco Jazz Festival is an annual three-week music festival produced by SFJAZZ, a non-profit organization dedicated to jazz and jazz education.
Cheryl Bentyne is a jazz singer who spent much of her career with The Manhattan Transfer.
Judi Donaghy is an American vocalist, producer and songwriter from the Twin Cities, as well as a music educator at the former McNally Smith College of Music, as well as a popular jazz performer. She is noted for her work with The Girls, the Wolverines Big Band and most notably as a member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra.
Spontaneous Inventions is a 1986 live album by American vocalist Bobby McFerrin, released by Blue Note Records.
Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro is a jazz singer and teacher from Arkansas.