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Singer Janis Siegel hails from Brooklyn, N.Y. Born in 1952, Siegel grew up singing and listening to a wide variety of music -- she recalls being particularly enamored with Motown and the Beatles, as well as the music of Broadway. By the time she was 12, Siegel was performing professionally with an all-girl pop group called The Young Generation.
The group stayed together throughout Siegel's teens. When the group's members graduated from high school, they decided to go for a more mature, more contemporary sound. They recast themselves as an acoustic folk group called Laurel Canyon. Seigel was actively singing with the group when she met taxi driver and aspiring musician, Tim Hauser. He invited Siegel to join up with a vocal group he was putting together along with two other aspiring singers named Laurel Masse and Alan Paul. The group, called The Manhattan Transfer, released their first self-titled album in 1975. After 30 years, more than 20 albums and 8 Grammy Awards, The Manhattan Transfer is one of the best-known and most popular vocal groups singing today.
Siegel has been an important part of the group's sound from the beginning, singing lead on some of the group's most memorable tunes such as "Operator," the crossover pop hit, "The Boy from N.Y.C." and the group's signature tune, "Birdland," a tune for which Siegel received a Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement.
In addition to her work with the Transfer, Siegel has also had a successful solo career that has spanned nine albums. Beginning with her first solo release, Experiment in White in 1982, Siegel's albums have included several collaborations with jazz pianist, Fred Hersch, a celebration of musical theater on Sketches of Broadway and her latest work, A Thousand Beautiful Things which features jazzed up versions of songs by contemporary pop songwriters such as Bjork, Annie Lennox and Suzanne Vega.
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Set List for Janis Siegel on Piano Jazz:The Story of Lucy and Jesse (Sondheim)
Whatever Possessed Me (Dameron, Hanighen)
I Know the Way to Brooklyn (Arkin, L. Feather)
Make Someone Happy (Comden, Green, Styne)
Prelude to a Kiss (Ellington, Gordon, Mills)
Lotus Blossom (Strayhorn)
A Thousand Beautiful Things (Lennox)
I Ain't Got Nothing but the Blues (Ellington)
The group stayed together throughout Siegel's teens. When the group's members graduated from high school, they decided to go for a more mature, more contemporary sound. They recast themselves as an acoustic folk group called Laurel Canyon. Seigel was actively singing with the group when she met taxi driver and aspiring musician, Tim Hauser. He invited Siegel to join up with a vocal group he was putting together along with two other aspiring singers named Laurel Masse and Alan Paul. The group, called The Manhattan Transfer, released their first self-titled album in 1975. After 30 years, more than 20 albums and 8 Grammy Awards, The Manhattan Transfer is one of the best-known and most popular vocal groups singing today.
Siegel has been an important part of the group's sound from the beginning, singing lead on some of the group's most memorable tunes such as "Operator," the crossover pop hit, "The Boy from N.Y.C." and the group's signature tune, "Birdland," a tune for which Siegel received a Grammy for Best Vocal Arrangement.
In addition to her work with the Transfer, Siegel has also had a successful solo career that has spanned nine albums. Beginning with her first solo release, Experiment in White in 1982, Siegel's albums have included several collaborations with jazz pianist, Fred Hersch, a celebration of musical theater on Sketches of Broadway and her latest work, A Thousand Beautiful Things which features jazzed up versions of songs by contemporary pop songwriters such as Bjork, Annie Lennox and Suzanne Vega.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
Subscribe!
Set List for Janis Siegel on Piano Jazz: