The Manhattan Transfer - 50th Anniversary and Final World Tour at Terme Di Lesignano De' Bagni

It has been nearly forty years since Tim Hauser paid the bills driving a New York City cab as he aspired to form a sui generis harmonic vocal quartet that could genuinely embrace various musical styles, and still today create something entirely unique in the field of American folk song. Hauser had been in doo-wop bands, folk bands and even a short-lived quintet called The Manhattan Transfer, but as the sounds of jazz, R&B, pop, rock 'n' roll, salsa and swing welled up from the back alleys of New York , Hauser now dreamed of boundless four-part harmonies.

In the fall of 1972, a client of Hauser's was an aspiring young singer named Laurel Massé, who was familiar with the only album by Hauser's previous Manhattan Transfer combo, and was looking to form a group. A few weeks later, another of Hauser's passengers invited him to a party where he met Brooklyn native Janis Siegel; although she was already in a group, Siegel agreed to help out with some demos and quickly became the third member of The Manhattan Transfer. As Hauser, Massé and Siegel began rehearsals, Massé's then boyfriend, who was playing drums in a Broadway pit band, introduced Hauser and Siegel to Alan Paul, who co-starred in the original production of Grease, and the rest, as they say, is history....

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It has been nearly forty years since Tim Hauser paid the bills driving a New York City cab as he aspired to form a sui generis harmonic vocal quartet that could genuinely embrace various musical styles, and still today create something entirely unique in the field of American folk song. Hauser had been in doo-wop bands, folk bands and even a short-lived quintet called The Manhattan Transfer, but as the sounds of jazz, R&B, pop, rock 'n' roll, salsa and swing welled up from the back alleys of New York , Hauser now dreamed of boundless four-part harmonies.

In the fall of 1972, a client of Hauser's was an aspiring young singer named Laurel Massé, who was familiar with the only album by Hauser's previous Manhattan Transfer combo, and was looking to form a group. A few weeks later, another of Hauser's passengers invited him to a party where he met Brooklyn native Janis Siegel; although she was already in a group, Siegel agreed to help out with some demos and quickly became the third member of The Manhattan Transfer. As Hauser, Massé and Siegel began rehearsals, Massé's then boyfriend, who was playing drums in a Broadway pit band, introduced Hauser and Siegel to Alan Paul, who co-starred in the original production of Grease, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Free admission. Performance held outdoors.

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