Couldn't Be Hotter

In an age when digital studio sorcery can make recording stars from anyone with the requisite marketable physical charms, 30-year vets the Manhattan Transfer continue to stake their claim on the musical Real Deal with this, their first live album in seven years. Recorded during concerts at Tokyo's acoustically stellar Orchestra Hall, the NYC-based quartet leans heavily on the return to jazz basics (and core repertoire) of their recent tribute to Louis Armstrong, Spirit of St. Louis and its predecessor, the big band infatuated Swing. The Satchmo connections are further underscored by buoyant workouts of "Up a Lazy River" and "Stars Fell on Alabama," solo vocal showcases for Alan Paul and Janis Siegel, respectively, as well as the savory stylings of contemporary trumpet great Lew Soloff. But on tracks like the dobro-inflected, elegantly languorous "Blue Again" and Spanish guitar backed vocal showcase "Clouds," the veteran quartet ably prove their love of tradition hardly equates to traditionalism. --Jerry McCulley