I know several people on this list have purchased the Manhattan
Transfer 35th Anniversary DVD: The Great American Songbook, but I
double-checked, and I don't think anyone has posted a review of it
yet. I just viewed the copy I "received" from my son (translation:
bought for myself and let him wrap it up) for Christmas, and a
review is definitely in order.

But first things first: If you have not ordered this DVD yet, RUN,
do not walk, to your computer and go to oddbanana.com and BUY THIS
DVD. They are selling it for $5.81 plus $3.00 shipping, for a total
of $8.81! At that price, everyone needs to have one.

The DVD was filmed on May 13 of this year at Henson Studios in Los
Angeles. The studo room is homey, with oriental rugs on the floor
and draped over possible acoustic booby traps. Yaron Gershovsky
sits at a Steinway piano with his back to the camera; he is the only
person we see in the studio except our heroes. The guys are dressed
in spiffy suits (though Alan's jacket hangs on a mic stand), and Tim
has traded in his soul patch for a pencil-thin mustache that goes
well with his sporty hat. Alan has some cool new glasses that make
him look like Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park. Janis is simple yet
stunning in a navy blue dress, and Cheryl goes the
shirt/tie/pants/red shoes route. All look relaxed and happy.

The disc contains five live-in-the-studio performances with Yaron
accompanying on piano. The group stands under a stylish microphone
to sing, but the disc also includes interviews where the four of
them relax on stools while they recall memories of how they came to
learn each song. The video of the discussion is interleaved with
the video of the singing, but you can play just the performances
from the main menu of the DVD.

After beginning with "Route 66: (which Janis admits they sing for
practically every appearance), they tell the story of being invited
to the White House during the Reagan administration to perform on a
Gershwin program. Since they didn't have any Gershwin in their
repertoire, they hurriedly commissioned Gene Puerling to write their
arrangement of "Embraceable You" (familiar to most of us, I think).
This is followed by a reminiscence of how they worked up "On the
Sunny Side of the Street" for A League of Their Own. I remembered
that on the soundtrack that the orchestra played a chorus before the
group sang, and I guess it's because there's only one verse-- it is
short and sweet when straightforwardly rendered. Next they return
to the story of the White House performance, recalling that Sarah
Vaughan, who sang before them, had sung a traditional arrangement
of "Someone to Watch Over Me." Since they didn't know they were
duplicating titles, they were glad that Alan had chosen a doo-wop
approach to his arrangement, which is recorded for the first time
ever in this session. This is a real treasure to add to the TMT
collection!

The DVD concludes with a rendering of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley
Square" in which Yaron accompanies, also playing the intro and outro
melodies instead of the group singing them. While I prefer the
acapella version, the piano-accompanied version is a nice add as
well. Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned yet that Alan tells
the story of the first time they sang in the Philippines and saw
what must have been Moy's group singing "Nightingale" on TV.

A few years ago, The Manhattan Transfer perfromed at the Bartlett
Performing Arts Center near Memphis (I remember Pete Motley came up
from Fort Worth!), and it was like having the group perform in your
living room. With this DVD, I am overjoyed that I can welcome them
back into my living room any time I want to (or need to).


Keith