The Manhattan Transfer Comes to Picnic with the Pops Tonight

Over 25 years and 30 albums, eight-time Grammy Award-winning vocal quartet The Manhattan Transfer continues to delight audiences worldwide. Best known for their live performances and stellar jazz singing, these harmonizing legends perform such hits as "Tuxedo Junction," "Route 66," "Spice of Life," "Java Jive," and many more.

Nationwide Insurance Picnic with the Pops presents The Manhattan Transfer at the Columbus Bicentennial Pavilion (160 S. High St.) in the Columbus Commons tonight, July 19. Gates open at 6 pm. Concert begins at 8 pm.

Tickets are $23 for adults when purchased in advance by phone at 614.228.8600, online at www.PicnicWithThePops.com or www.ticketmaster.com, in person at the CAPA Ticket Center (39 E. State St.), or at central Ohio Kroger Ticketmaster locations. Adult tickets are $25 at the gate on the night of the show. Tickets for children ages 3-14 are always $8 regardless of when or where they are purchased. Children 2 and under are free.

Tim Hauser - Hauser founded the first Manhattan Transfer group in 1969, and made one album, Jukin'. Following the group's demise, he worked as a New York City cab driver, and eventually founded the current Manhattan Transfer group in 1972. Hauser is also a producer, having produced about half of the Transfers albums, the soundtrack for The Marrying Man, cuts on A League of Their Own, and Richie Cole's Hollywood Madness. He also appeared as Woody the bandleader in The Marrying Man, and was recently featured in the Hugh Hefner documentary, Hugh Hefner, Playboy, Activist, and Rebel. He is the owner of Tim Hauser Foods, a manufacturer of boutique pasta sauce, and is also featured on Sirius XM's "Fifties on 5" and "Sixties on 6."

Alan Paul - Paul is one of the founding members of The Manhattan Transfer and a nine-time Grammy Award winner.

His contributions as writer and arranger are also well represented in his four Grammy nominations for his compositions "Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone and Code of Ethics" and vocal arrangements for "Ray's Rockhouse." He also received a Grammy nomination for Best Male Jazz Vocalist for "Oh Yes, I Remember Clifford" (from Vocalese). Some of the other songs he has penned include, "Smile Again," "Spies in the Night," "Malaise en Malaisie," "All Heart," "The Quitetude," "What Goes Around Comes Around," "Santa Man," "It's Good Enough to Keep," "Stompin' at Mahogany Hall," "Nothin' Could Be Hotter Than That," and "Ragtime in Pixiland." Paul holds two Honorary Doctorate degrees-one in the humanities from his alma mater Kean University, and another in music from the Berklee School of Music, along with his partners.

Janis Siegel - Over the past four decades, the voice of Janis Siegel, a nine-time Grammy winner with an additional 17 Grammy nominations, has been an undeniable force in The Manhattan Transfer's diverse musical catalog. Alongside her career as a founding member of this musical institution, Siegel has also sustained a solo career that has spawned more than a half dozen finely crafted solo albums and numerous collaborative projects, amassed a large international fan base and garnered consistently high critical praise. Siegel's unmistakable voice has become one of the group's most recognizable trademarks. She sang lead on some of Transfer's biggest hits, including "Operator," "Chanson D'Amour," "Twilight Zone," "Birdland," "The Boy from NYC," "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 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.

Cheryl Bentyne - Bentyne debuted with The Manhattan Transfer on the landmark album, Extensions. Since then, some of her most memorable contributions to the group include her Grammy-nominated solo in "Meet Benny Bailey," her portrayal of Lucy in the "Blee Blop Blues" video, and her exquisite voicing of Django Reinhardt's guitar solo on "Clouds" and Miles Davis' solo on "Tutu." Bentyne has also appeared on bassist Rob Wasserman's highly acclaimed album, Duets, and the soundtracks to Mortal Thoughts and Dick Tracy. She earned a Grammy Award with Bobby McFerrin for their vocal arrangement of "Another Night in Tunisia." Bentyne has also released several solo albums, including Something Cool, Talk of the Town, Moonlight Serenade, The Lights Still Burn, Cheryl Bentyne Sings "Waltz for Debby," The Cole Porter Songbook, The Gershwin Songbook, Let Me Off Uptown, and The Book of Love.

Parking is available in the lot beneath the Columbus Commons (entrance at 191 S. Third St.), and park-side in the three-story garage at 55 E. Rich St. (entrances are located on Main Street and Rich Street). Parking is $5, and is cash only.

Patrons may bring their own food and beverages or purchase from on-site vendors. Beer and wine are permitted on-site for Picnic concerts only. Coolers are permitted but must be less than 2.5 feet in height.

Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs for lawn seating but no tables. Pets, skateboards, solicitation or unauthorized sales, handbills, weapons, plastic tarps, tents, and use of stakes are not permitted. Smoking is permitted in designated areas only. Flash cameras, cell phones, laser pointers, and/or video and audio recorders of any kind are not permitted during the performance.

All concerts are rain or shine, and may start late if necessitated by inclement weather. Concerts will only be cancelled because of severe weather, and the decision will be made after 6pm on the day of the performance. Patrons can call 614-228-8600 after 6pm on the day of the show for updates. If a concert is cancelled due to severe weather, tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase.

About the Columbus Symphony Orchestra: Founded in 1951, the Columbus Symphony is the longest-running, professional symphony in central Ohio. Through an array of innovative artistic, educational, and community outreach programming, the Columbus Symphony is reaching an expanding, more diverse audience each year. This season, the Columbus Symphony will share classical music with more than 175,000 people in central Ohio through concerts, radio broadcasts, and special programming. For more information, visit www.columbussymphony.com.

Pictured: Tim Hauser, Cheryl Bentyne, Janis Siegel, Alan Paul. Photo courtesy Monterey Intl.

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