JaLaLa featuring Janis Siegel, Laurel Massé, & Lauren Kinhan will perform at The Egg as part of the American Roots & Branches concert series.Janis Siegel and Laurel Massé, founding members of The Manhattan Transfer join forces with Lauren Kinhan of New York Voices for an evening of standards, featuring the music of Johnny Mercer from their new recording, and other jazz classics.
Over the past thirty five years, Janis Siegel has been an undeniable force in the music industry. Throughout her illustrious career she has garnered nine Grammy’s and has been nominated seventeen times. In the mid-1970’s, Ms. Siegel joined forces with Tim Hauser, Laurel Massé, and Alan Paul to form The Manhattan Transfer. The group’s self-titled debut album in 1975 ushered in a renaissance of vocal-based music and marked the beginning of the foursome’s successful career.
In addition to her work with the Manhattan Transfer with whom she continues to tour internationally, Ms. Siegel launched her solo career in 1982 with the release of Experiment in White. Her next release, At Home, earned her a Grammy nomination in 1987 for Best Female Jazz Vocal. In 1989, the New York Music Awards named her Best Female Jazz Singer. Ms. Siegel has also appeared on a number of motion picture soundtracks including, Swing Kids, A League of Their Own, Dick Tracy, and others.
Ms. Siegel’s most recent solo effort is the Latin-flavored A Thousand Beautiful Things which was released in 2006.
Laurel Massé toured with the Manhattan Transfer for seven years and recorded four albums with the group before a near-fatal automobile accident cut her tenure short with the band. Ms. Massé returned two years later to embark on a solo career - her first two solo records, Alone Together and Easy Living both made the Billboard Jazz Charts, and her third release, Again, was a People magazine pick.
As a studio singer Ms. Massé has appeared on CDs of many genres by artists that include Tony Trischka, Barry Manilow, and percussionist Layne Redmore. Ms. Masse also was the creator and host of The Laurel Massé Jazz Show which ran for two years on WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Ms. Massé also spends her time as a teacher participating in master classes and private coaching in the New York area. In 2004, she joined the faculty of The Cabaret Conference at Yale as a master instructor of jazz and cabaret. That same year she received, along with the other three founding members of the Manhattan Transfer, the MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabaret and Clubs) Lifetime Achievement Award.
For the past eighteen years, Lauren Kinhan has been known as a member of the New York Voices. In 2000, she was signed by the legendary Phil Ramone. He put together a crack-shot team of producers to help Ms. Kinhan launch her original solo CD entitled Hardly Blinking. Her most recent release, Avalon highlights her supple voice and prose while leaving room for great instrumental moments.
Ms. Kinhan also co-founded the group Moss and released their self-titled debut album in 2008. In 2010, it was included in DownBeat’s Best CDs of the 2000s. Ms. Kinhan has been serving as a Board of Governor for the Recording Academy since 2008 and sits on their sub committees for Education, Jazz and Grammy Career Day.
The trio known as JaLaLa was formed as a result of the trio’s particular fondness for the music of Johnny Mercer. Their recording features classics such as “You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby,“ “Jeepers Creepers,” and “Accentuate The Positive.”
Tickets to the concert are $24 and are available at The Egg Box Office at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, by phone at 518-473-1845 or on-line at www.theegg.org . The American Roots and Branches series is sponsored by Time Warner Cable.
Date and Time: Friday, June 5th at 8 PM
Location:
The Egg Center For The Performing Arts
Empire State Plaza
Albany, NY 12210.
http://www.americantowns.com/ny/albany/news/jalala-janis-siegel-laurel-masse-and-lauren-kinhan-to-perform-at-the-egg-297112
