ABOUT - Janis Siegel

THE story

Bio

For nearly 60 years, Janis Siegel’s voice has been an undeniable force in the world of jazz and popular music. A founding member of THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER, Janis’ powerful and versatile voice became one of the groups most recognized trademarks – singing lead on some of their biggest hits including “Boy From New York City”, “Operator”, “Chanson D’Amour”, “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone”, “Mystery“, “Spice of Life” and “Birdland”. Performing for audiences around the world, TMT and Siegel amassed a large international fan base and garnered consistently high critical praise, including 10 GRAMMY awards and 18 nominations.

Siegel has also enjoyed an eclectic solo career, spawning more than a dozen finely crafted solo albums and participating in numerous collaborative projects with some of the world’s most renowned musicians, producers, composers, and arrangers. She also co-hosts WBGO’s SINGERS UNLIMITED radio program with Lezlie Harrison and VOCAL GUMBO – a virtual music program celebrating the vocal arts with Lauren Kinhan of the New York Voices.

"I think people will always respond to emotion and to great songs sung well,” she says. “And I think that vocalists will always be in demand. There’s nothing that approximates the human voice. When you come down to it, people want to feel something."

Janis Siegel

Over the years, Janis’ unmistakable voice has become one of the The Manhattan Transfer’s most recognizable trademarks. She sang lead on some of the Transfer’s biggest hits, such as “Operator,” “Chanson D’Amour,” “Twilight Zone,” “Birdland,” “The Boy from N.Y.C.” “Spice of Life”, ”Ray’s Rockhouse”, “The Shaker Song”, “Mystery”, and co-wrote and sang lead on the Grammy winning “Sassy”. She also gained a reputation as a vocal arranger by writing five of the charts for the group’s acclaimed masterwork, VOCALESE, seven charts for the group’s Grammy-winning album BRASIL, and won a Grammy herself in 1980 for her arrangement of “Birdland.” In 1993, she and her Manhattan Transfer colleagues received their honorary doctorates from the Berklee School of Music, and in 1999 they were among the first class of inductees into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

She collaborated with jazz pianist Fred Hersch on the 1989 effort, Short Stories, which Jazz Times ranked “among the most graceful, thoroughly heartbreaking efforts of the modern era, thanks to her rich, emotive vocals. “That same year, the New York Music Awards named her Best Female Jazz Singer. Siegel rejoined Hersch in the making of Slow Hot Wind in 1995, and The Tender Trap in 1999.

These days, you can find Janis in the places she loves most, the studio, producing various ventures for other artists and singing on a wide array of projects, touring with her trio, teaching at N.Y.U. and other universities and high schools, and joining forces with NY Voices alto Lauren Kinhan for a virtual music festival called “VOCAL GUMBO” which was born of the pandemic. She is also out on the road with her Manhattan Transfer partners celebrating their 50th anniversary, doing collaborative shows with Take 6 , and promoting a brand new Manhattan Transfer CD, “FIFTY” which was released SEPTEMBER 2022.

Her 10th solo CD, released on Palmetto Records, is called “NIGHTSONGS” and her most recent solo collaborations are “HONEY & AIR” a Brazilian/jazz vocal adventure with her group REQUINTE TRIO, along with percussionist/singer Nanny Assis and pianist John di Martino, “SOME OTHER TIME “ a tribute to Leonard Bernstein with trombonist/singer Nils Landgren and arranger Vince Mendoza, “MAZEL” a Yiddish songbook with Cantor Daniel Kramer, “VOX HUMANA” a brand new album of Big Band Latin jazz with Bobby Sanabria and The Multiverse Jazz Orchestra , a new Cy Coleman project, “THE COLORS OF MY LIFE “ with pianist Yaron Gershovsky, and “CRYIN’ IN MY WHISKEY” a collection of classic country with a jazz sensibility. She is also out on the road with her Manhattan Transfer partners celebrating their 50th anniversary, doing collaborative shows with Take 6 , and promoting a brand new Manhattan Transfer CD, “FIFTY” which was released SEPTEMBER 2022.

Siegel’s other collaborations and projects outside The Manhattan Transfer are many and varied. They include recording and touring as a member of the acclaimed improvisational vocal group, Bobby McFerrin’s VOICESTRA, and being a participant alongside Luciana Souza, Mulgrew Miller and James Williams in a tribute to jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center. Miss Siegel was also a member of the distinguished ensemble cast debuting Cy Coleman, and Alan and Marilyn Bergman’s jazz song cycle, “Songs For A New Millenium,” at the Kennedy Center. She appears with her duo partner Fred Hersch on 2 Hands 10 Voices, a benefit album for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, a cause close to her heart, contributed three cuts to pianist Renee Rosnes’ CD “ ICE ON THE HUDSON.” and recorded with Enka singer Mika Shinno on her latest album. The summer of 2003 found her an eager participant in the Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. Siegel performed to rave reviews with an all-star ensemble including Dame Cleo Lane, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kevin Mahogany and Canadian jazz singer Denzil Sinclaire. She is also out on the road with her Manhattan Transfer partners celebrating their 50th anniversary, doing collaborative shows with Take 6 , and promoting a brand new Manhattan Transfer CD, “FIFTY” which was released SEPTEMBER 2022.