She is a singer and arranger born in Brooklyn,
New York.She began studying music while still
young and she was singing with The Young Generation by the time she was twelve.
With them, she would release two singles by the time she had finished high
school. The band changed
its name to LaurelCanyon
and as well as continuing to perform with them she also attended college to
study nursing.She met Tim Hauser
through a chance meeting and after singing him some demos she was invited
to join the quartet he was forming called The Manhattan Transfer.They established themselves in 1972
and she has remained with them since that time.Being acclaimed for the lead vocals
in hit songs such as "Chanson d'Amour",
"Boy from New York
City"
and "Operator", she has also gained recognition as an arranger,
winning a Grammy Award for her arrangement of "Birdland".
She and the other members of The
Manhattan Transfer received an honorary doctorate from the Berkelee School of Music in 1993 and were inducted into
the Vocal Hall of Fame in 1999.Her solo career was begun in 1982 and since then she has released
several solo albums, including the Grammy nominated At Home, and was named the Best Female Jazz Singer in the New
York Music Awards in 1989.She has
collaborated with many artists including the jazz pianist Fred Hersch, the
Beaux Arts String Quartet, the violinist Nadja Solerno-Sonnenberg, the Concordia
Orchestra, the Los
Angeles Jazz Ensemble, the Turkish composer IlhanMimaroglu and has duetted with Natalie Cole in the song "Two for
the Blues". Appearing on many albums her recordings
include her own Experiment in White, Friday Night Special, I
Wish You Love, Sketches of Broadway, Slow Hot White and A
Thousand Beautiful Things as well as Freddie
Freeloader by Jon Hendricks & Friends, Got Swing!
by Erich Kunzel & The Cincinatti Pops Orchestra, Bodies and
Souls, Bop Doo-Wopp,Brasil, Coming Out,
Extensions, Mecca for Moderns,Offbeat of Avenues,
Pastiche, Spirit of St. Louis, Tender Trap,
Vibrate and Vocalese by The Manhattan Transfer
and Spontaneoius Inventions by Bobby McFerrin and the
soundtracks of Hudson Hawk,A League of Their Own
and Swing Kids. In the movies
she has featured on soundtracks including Swing Kids, A League of Their Own and Dick Tracy, and has appeared as an actress in Harry & Son and Mary's Incredible Dream.
The Manhattan Transfer Recordings
Body and Soul
(Edward Heyman/Johnny Green/Robert Sour/Frank Eyton)
Twilight
Zone/Twilight Tone (Marius Constant/Jay Graydon/Alan
Paul)
