Oops! There goes another one solo

By GRAHAM REID

Alan Paul takes it in good spirit, although the question could have sounded very rude: Good Lord man, what took you so long?

At 54, Paul has only just got round to recording his debut solo album. The other members of the famous Manhattan Transfer quartet he has been with for 31 years have long since run parallel solo careers which makes Paul - with Another Place and Time - a late bloomer indeed.

"All things come in their time," he laughs. "I started working on one a few years ago but this fell into my lap. Maybe it was not feeling ready or not having a clear idea of what I wanted to do. But it culminated this year, and was an incredible project to work on because the publishing company had all the Hoagy Carmichael catalogue so I had the opportunity to pick any of those songs I wanted."

And Paul could also use the excuse that he's a busy man. It takes four calls to get him, each time "Can you call back?" because he's in the studio doing a production job for someone else. And of course ManTrans still have a viable and busy career.

Because of family commitments - Cheryl Bentyne and Janis Siegel have pre-teens, Tim Hauser has two kids, Paul an 18-year-old daughter - they tour less frequently these days and, with the men on the West Coast and the women on the East, just getting them together is a challenge.

Some years ago they decided to pull back on touring, which allowed them time to do other projects - hence Paul's album and production work - and concentrate on advancing their studio work.

"Recording is where new blood comes in. We always said if this was to continue, we had to keep growing and expanding and not have a career based on our past hits. When we do concerts, it is music from all through our career. People want to hear where our growth is, but also hear the hits, so we balance that."

In their three-decade career, ManTrans have garnered quite a collection of hits too: Their gospel-tinged Operator, Francophile Chanson D'Amour, Motown-framed Helpless, the doo-wop Heart's Desire and their vocal treatment of the jazz standard Birdland which has become their signature song.

A hallmark of their career has been the breadth of styles they have embraced. While they have taken on the Great American Songbook (Gershwin, Cole Porter) they have also traced a thread of vocal music from gospel and soul through street-corner harmony and Motown. Jazz is their forte also; they've collaborated with the godfather of vocalese Jon Hendricks (of Hendricks, Lambert and Ross), James Taylor, Frank Valli (of the Four Seasons) and Chaka Khan. They have collected a couple of shelves worth of Grammys and three years ago were inducted into the Vocal Hall of Fame.

"Actually we were back there last week and it was amazing to see this group of people who were all harmony singers. The Four Lads were there, they hadn't been together in 45 years, and the original Drifters were there. It was wonderful, and that's what Manhattan Transfer is about.

"What we're most noted for is the four-part harmony, especially early in our career that was the sound. It was based on the Count Basie sax section - two altos and two tenors - and we tried to take that and apply it to whatever music we did, whether it was doowop or gospel. As we evolved the harmonies got more sophisticated and complex.

"When we got together, four-part was pretty much non-existent. Pop music was basically triads and you'd hear four-part in doo-wop groups and people like the Four Freshmen. But when Motown hit in, four-part was taboo, you couldn't have more than three parts. But because of our love for it we filled a niche."

That niche was pretty large: The first line-up with Laurel Masse moved from being a cult act playing hip clubs in New York through a couple of albums which sprung top-10 hits and enjoyed acclaim in Europe. In '78, Masse left for a solo career and Bentyne was recruited. That has been the stable line-up since, the one which made music history by picking up Grammys in both the pop and jazz categories in '81. They were back for Grammys the following two years and their Vocalese album of 85 was nominated in 12 categories, second only at the time to Michael Jackson's Thriller for the most nominations.

Their awards successes continued through the 90s, they recorded live albums and Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba for children, and each of them - Paul excepted - recorded solo projects.

Their sound is so distinctive and successful, it is surprising not more groups have followed in their wake, but they seem to be as singular as they are distinctive.

"A number have picked up the torch but the music industry today doesn't support it. I wish there were more, because our audiences are still diverse. Demographically the majority is between 30 and 60, but we have younger people who have been introduced to us because they are studying vocals or are into harmony singing. When we go to Europe, we play jazz festivals so we get the jazz fans, and in Asia we are like a pop group.

"I don't think any of us thought we would go as long as we have. Like with any career there are peaks and valleys, but this has been good to us and we were extremely fortunate we had a lot of freedom to record and try different things. It's a whole other world in the record industry today.

"There was a time when record companies would get behind their artists and really help and support their careers. They don't have the patience, care or the money to do that any more. They are more interested in making that hit. If an artist comes out and has a great first album they have to match on the second or they're gone.

"I think we'd have to say we were very fortunate."

Performance

* Who: Manhattan Transfer

* Where: Civic Theatre

* When: October 30 and 31