THOMASVILLE — The 10-time Grammy winning pop/jazz vocal quartet, the Manhattan Transfer, will pay a visit to Southwest Georgia this week for a concert in Thomasville Thursday.
The focus of the event will be to give Southwest Georgians a taste of the group’s new album, “The Chick Corea Songbook,” which celebrates its 40-year-anniversary.
“It’s a very dramatic adventure into the legend of Chick Corea,” Manhattan Transfer member Cheryl Bentyne said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.
The Four Quarters Entertainment project, which is an homage to veteran jazz pianist and composer Corea, is one that Bentyne and her fellow vocalists have anticipated for quite some time.
“For 35 or so years, we’ve wanted to do his music,” Bentyne said. “But we just never took the time before.”
Once the Manhattan Transfer decided to take on the task, creating the album took about half a year.
“The whole process took five to six months,” Bentyne said.
A process that included decomposing Corea’s songs, writing new arrangements for them and recording the new versions in the Manhattan Transfer’s four-part harmony.
“The most challenging part is sitting together and learning them (the parts),” Bentyne said.
The result is a different sound for the Manhattan Transfer.
“It’s eclectic. But the overall sound is truly us,” Bentyne said.
Although the singer considers whatever song she’s working on to be her favorite, one tune from “Songbook” stands out.
“Right now, my favorite is ‘Spain,’” she said, explaining that the group is currently preparing the song for live performances. “We’re having a ball working on it.”
Southwest Georgians can see the results of that work Thursday night.
“We aim to please the audience with a variety of songs,” Bentyne said.
Thursday’s stop will be one of several for the Manhattan Transfer next month. However, the tour won’t interfere with the foursome’s own holiday festivities.
“It’ll end way before Christmas,” Bentyne said.
She doesn’t recall previously visiting Thomasville in the Manhattan Transfer’s four-decade history. But this isn’t the first time the group has ventured to the Peach State.
“We’ve played in Atlanta a lot,” Bentyne said.
In fact, the Manhattan Transfer has numerous performances across the country and overseas under their belts.
“I don’t think there’s a state that we haven’t been,” Bentyne said.
But her favorite trips take the group across the Atlantic Ocean to Austria and Switzerland.
“I just adore Switzerland,” the singer said. “It’s just the most beautiful country. The mountains are like paintings from heaven.”
Bentyne’s appreciation of Austria stems from an appreciation for the likes of Mozart.
“Austria is dripping with musical legends,” she said.
For now, Bentyne is looking forward to making her first trip to Thomasville.
“It’s going to be an adventure,” she reiterated.
For more information, call (229) 226-7404 or visit www.tefconcerts.com.