With 2022's Fifty, Grammy-winning vocal quartet the Manhattan Transfer celebrate their 50th birthday in illustrious fashion, collaborating with Germany's WDR Funkhausorchester. Founded in the 1960s by the late Tim Hauser, the Manhattan Transfer helped repopularize '40s-style vocal harmony jazz, swing, and traditional pop, all while incorporating contemporary pop and dance elements. Here, original members Janis Siegel and Alan Paul, along with longtime member Cheryl Bentyne and Trist Curless (who joined after Hauser's passing in 2014), look back on the group's albums and revisit some of their favorite songs.

As the Manhattan Transfer went on, so did the legacy of the jazz vocal ensemble. In that regard, though the competition was scarce, this group did elevate the art form to a higher level without much compromise. This two-CD, 39-track compilation represents many of the high points of the group. If anything is missing, some of the vocalese influenced by Eddie Jefferson should have been included. Still most fans will recognize "Ray's Rockhouse," "Route 66," "Four Brothers," "Tuxedo Junction," "That Cat Is High," "(Sing) Joy Spring," and their immortal take of the Jon Hendricks lyric to "Birdland." Unless it is a complete collection, you'd be hard pressed to find a better grouping of the Manhattan Transfer's prime body of works.

The Junction is the twenty-third studio album by The Manhattan Transfer, released on March 30, 2018. This is their first album in nine years since their last album; The Chick Corea Songbook. Beginning with their first performances in the early 1970s, THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER have become the cornerstones of contemporary music. Originally launched by Tim Hauser in 1969, Hauser, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel and Laurel Masse were the group by 1972. Cheryl Bentyne joined the group in 1979 after Laurel Masse left. One of the co-writers on The Junction – the group’s new album which draws inspiration in part from The Transfer’s classic 1975 version of Glenn Miller’s “Tuxedo Junction”—is the group’s new mem- ber, bass vocalist Trist Curless. Curless began subbing on the road for the late band founder Tim Hauser in 2013, officially joining after Hauser’s passing in late 2014.

The Ultimate Christmas Album, Vol. 6: WCBS FM 101.1 is another eclectic collection of pop holiday tunes from the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s, including Wham!'s "Last Christmas," the Beach Boys' "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," and Andy Williams' "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!." Aretha Franklin's "Winter Wonderland," America's "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and Connie Francis' "White Christmas" are some of the other highlights from this scattered compilation, which somehow mixes different sounds and eras into a festive celebration.

The Ultimate Christmas Album, Vol. 5 collects more pop and rock holiday tunes, this time venturing further into the '70s and '80s with songs like Paul McCartney & Wings' "Wonderful Christmastime," Hall & Oates' "Jingle Bell Rock," and Barry Manilow's "It's Just Another New Year's Eve." The collection still features traditional pop chestnuts, including Dean Martin's "A Marshmallow World," Johnny Mathis' "The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)," and Andy Williams' "Sleigh Ride," but this volume's overall feel is more contemporary than classic. Other highlights include Manhattan Transfer's "A Christmas Love Song," the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping," the Tokens' "Little Drummer Boy," and the Jackson 5's "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus." If The Ultimate Christmas Album, Vol. 5 isn't necessarily the most coherent volume in the series, it's certainly one of the most interesting.

The idea on Tonin' was to turn the Manhattan Transfer loose on a baker's dozen of good old 1960s pop and R&B hits in league either with the original artists or prominent guests from that period and beyond. And yes, it's a stellar list, guaranteed to stir warm and fuzzy memories, and the tunes echo the old lament of an earlier age, "They don't write songs like they used to."

The Offbeat Of Avenues was the twelfth album released by The Manhattan Transfer on August 13, 1991, on the Columbia Records label. This album is the first of two albums for Columbia Records. This album is also the first Manhattan Transfer album where the majority of the songs were either written or co-written by the members of the group. This album yielded the group a Grammy Award, in the category of Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for the song "Sassy". The lyrics for this song were written by Janis Siegel and Cheryl Bentyne; the music by composed by Janis Siegel and Bill Bodine.

This eclectic collection of songs encompasses jazz, bebop, swing, doo wop, rock & roll, and gospel; all are trimmed in an attractive pop texture. These 16 compositions are taken from the vocal quartet's albums, which span 12 years (1975-1987). Each selection is inviting, as all four song stylists display their individual vocal skills and admirable harmonies. Laurel Masse appears on recordings up until 1979, when Cheryl Bentyne replaced her. Other members include Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, and Alan Paul.

This collection features rerecorded versions of some of the Manhattan Transfer's best-known songs, including classics like "Embraceable You," "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" as well as their inspired reworking of Weather Report's "Birdland."

Bop Doo-Wopp is the seventh album released by The Manhattan Transfer in 1984 on the Atlantic Records label. Six of the ten tracks on Bob Doo-Wopp are live performances. The album contained the song "Route 66" which originally appeared on the soundtrack to the Burt Reynolds' film Sharky's Machine. The album is essentially a "live" album (6 tracks) with some additional studio cuts (4 tracks). Five tracks were recorded live at the Nakano Sun Plaza in Japan in November 1983. Songs from these concerts were also released in 1996 on their album Man-Tora! Live in Tokyo. The other live cut, "Duke of Dubuque", was recorded for the Evening at Pops series on PBS. The song "Safronia B" was recorded in Sydney, Australia in December 1983. The other three songs were recorded in New York. Route 66 hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982, reaching #78, and earned the group another Grammy Award in the category of "Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Duo or Group."