Spirit of St. Louis

Manhattan Transfer

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 2000)
• Original Release Date: October 10, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B00004YNGW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,141 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Clichés have gotten something of a bad rap. Essentially, they're the most instantly recognizable attributes of any artistic endeavor. Louis Armstrong's were his sweetly gruff, speaking/singing voice and deceptively simple Dixieland jazz trumpet flourishes. The Manhattan Transfer's clichés are the group's slick jazz and harmonically perfect takes on the traditional vocal quartet. The common ground of this Manhattan Transfer tribute to Armstrong may not be entirely discernable at first listen, but that's the beauty of music--influences can sometimes reveal themselves in ways that surprise and delight the performer as much as the listener. Crucially, the veteran quartet wisely dispense with their sometimes predictable MO, allowing producer Craig Street (Me'Shell Ndegeocello, k.d. lang, Cassandra Wilson) to challenge them with a series of arrangements that wed vintage instrumentation to a distinctly non-vintage set of instrumentalists (including Los Lobos' Steve Berlin, modern jazz horn great Jon Hassell, Beck alumni Smokey Hormel, and adventuresome guitarist/loopist David Torn). The producer also allowed Transfer members to pick their own Armstrong favorites for interpretation, giving the band members unusually free solo spotlights (including Tim Hauser's one-take wonder "Blue Again," a deliciously lazy reading of "Sugar" by Cheryl Bentyne, Janis Siegel's "The Blues are Bewin'," and Alan Paul's playful "Gone Fishin'"). The result is arguably the Transfer's best album in a decade, one that fuses their impeccable vocal perfectionism to Armstrong's still vibrant and soulful legacy. The result is anything but a cliché. -- Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of their best, December 28, 2000

By	James C. Springer (Lisle, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I agree with this title's reviewer here when he states "The result is arguably the Transfer's best album in a decade, one that fuses their impeccable vocal perfectionism to Armstrong's still vibrant and soulful legacy. The result is anything but a cliché."

This is easily their best work since the one-two punch of Vocalese/Brasil, which, ironically another reviewer here denigrates by saying about it "look how devoted we are to jazz arcana." (The first time I EVER heard that nay saying about the Vocalese outing. And probably about as untrue as could possibly be.) Why this release is getting brickbats is beyond me. I've been a fan of the group since 1980 ... I consider myself fairly objective. A highly regarded release here, Swing, I find somewhat disappointed by as a counter-example. People speak of the "sound" of St. Louis, but I found the "westernized-swing" sound of Swing disconcerting. Granted, I've warmed up to that one, but the top 3 TMT albums in my book are easily Vocalese, Brasil, The Spirit Of St. Louis.

This is a wonderful outing and I really think the dissenters should have another listen or three <g> Louis Armstrong had such a large body of work and I believe the Transfer touches on many aspects of it ... it IS a wonderful tribute.

Jim

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save Your Money - Don't Buy This, November 10, 2000

By	"platinumox" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This album is awful. And I really like Manhattan Transfer. The Spirit of Louis Armstrong has been turned into a dirge in some places (When You Wish Upon A Star), a hokey high school production in other places (Gone Fishing) and a mish mash of musical styles that just don't work well together (Sugar)-- what's with the whispering and hints at techno? Besides betraying their own musicality, in this album the group has betrayed the lyric wonderful qualities of the Armstrong standards they wanted to honor. Instead of breathing new life into the songs with great new interpretations, the tracks on this album are jarring experiments that will make you want to rip the CD from its player. This is a total shame since the group's voices are holding up well over time. The vocals are clear and they offer glimpses of blending together well but the arrangements and production values [stink]. Your best bet is to wait until the Manhattan Transfer fires the awful producer who totally botched this album and produces a new CD worthy of their talent.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best vocal record of the year., October 10, 2000

By A Customer

I've been listening to an advance of "The Spirit of St. Louis" for weeks, and think it is the best vocal album of the year -- if not in ages. Raw, impassioned, and exciting performances -- both invidually and collectively -- make this the best Manhattan Transfer album since "Vocalese", if not the best of their long career. Producer Craig Street and the incredible musicians strip away all the gloss and reveal the luster of 4 great singers. The songs may be from the Louis Armstrong canon, but the Transfer give original and indelible interpretations they make their own. There's not a bad track in the bunch. Longtime fans may be put off -- but the adventurous, and the uninitiated, will find this to be a classic.