THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER – Mecca For Moderns
Jazz Harmony in the Era of Excess
In 1981, as America barreled deeper into the age of Reagan, neon, and network television, The Manhattan Transfer released
Mecca For Moderns, an album that swirled together vocal jazz, pop precision, and genre-defiant polish. While synth-pop acts were discovering drum machines
and MTV was revving its engines for launch, this vocal quartet stayed grounded in classic arrangements, delivered with studio gloss and razor-sharp timing.
This was music for hi-fi systems, not Walkmans—a highbrow cocktail in a beer-chugging decade.
Stylistic Shape-Shifting
Mecca For Moderns is less an album than a curated voyage through musical architecture. Here, The Manhattan Transfer—Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, Alan Paul, and Cheryl Bentyne—
constructed a sonic metropolis built on swing foundations and postmodern facades. It’s jazz, yes, but it’s jazz touched with funk, glazed with doo-wop, and unapologetically slick with L.A. studio sheen.
The album flirts with contemporary pop in the opener “On the Boulevard,” then shape-shifts into vocalese brilliance with “Until I Met You (Corner Pocket),” a Basie number turned verbal acrobatics.
“The Night That Monk Returned to Heaven” swings with reverence, but it’s the ensemble’s version of “Boy From New York City” that delivered the commercial punch, bridging generations and radio formats.
Production and Sonic Sculpting
At the heart of the record is producer Jay Graydon, a man who defined West Coast studio polish in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. His fingerprints are all over this release, sculpting vocals,
layering textures, and maintaining the intricate balance between homage and innovation. Graydon's meticulous oversight turns the quartet’s harmonic complexity into airplay-friendly sophistication.
Recording took place primarily at Dawnbreaker Studios in San Fernando, California, a favorite among L.A.'s studio elite at the time. Engineered by industry veteran Ian Eales, the soundstage is wide
but controlled, with a crystalline quality typical of post-disco jazz-pop productions.
Musicianship Behind the Curtains
Mecca For Moderns is more than vocal arrangements—it is a collaboration with a cadre of Los Angeles session royalty. Guitarist Steve Lukather (Toto), keyboardist David Foster, bassist Abraham Laboriel,
and drummer Jeff Porcaro all lend their precision and flair, infusing the record with instrumental depth that rivals its vocal focus. Their contributions are restrained but essential, elevating what could be
academic into something visceral.
Genre and Intent
The album resides in the rarefied air between vocal jazz and adult contemporary, but its heart is in vocalese—a genre where complex jazz instrumentals are reborn as lyrical explorations.
This is evident in the Grammy-winning “Until I Met You,” where Count Basie’s horn parts become a vocal maze. The group didn’t just sing songs—they embodied arrangements.
And yet, the record never feels niche. It invites the casual listener with glossy hooks, then challenges them with harmonic puzzles. It's a balancing act of accessibility and ambition that few artists dared attempt in the FM-dominated early ‘80s.
Critical Reception and Mild Turbulence
Though not marred by overt controversy, Mecca For Moderns did attract occasional pushback from jazz purists who balked at its polish and crossover intent.
To them, The Manhattan Transfer represented jazz-lite—well-dressed elevator music. But to its defenders, the album was proof that complex music could still charm the mainstream without dilution.
The group’s precise diction, polished aesthetics, and gleaming production became both their signature and a lightning rod. Were they reviving jazz or packaging it for the pop market?
That duality remains the record’s most fascinating tension.
