Manhattan Transfer and Take 6, two best-selling singing and recording groups that have each received 10 Grammys, will perform in a rare joint appearance concert at The Klein in Bridgeport on Friday, May 15th at 8 pm.
Claude Villani and Ross Vannelli of South Norwalk-based V2 Concert Promotion, LLC are the presenters. Mr. Villani says, "V2 Concert Promotion is proud to present these two amazing vocal talents in a once-in-a-lifetime concert. We look forward to bringing other exciting shows to this historic venue." The concert will also be videotaped for a later broadcast, which is a first for The Klein.
Following the acclaimed Vienna Boys Choir and Footsteps of Mandela concerts, this is the third event in the Klein 75 series commemorating the 75th anniversary year of Bridgeport’s historic 1,450-seat performing arts center. The concert will also serve as The Klein’s Spring Fundraising event. At a pre-concert dinner for 240 invited donors in a tent outside the theater, The Klein will bestow the second annual Jacob Klein Leader of Distinction Award to all nine Carroll siblings, a prominent Bridgeport family of business and civic leaders. (The first honorees of the award were Nancy and Armando Goncalves.) Funds raised at the dinner will support the Klein’s afterschool program, ASK (After School at the Klein), now finishing its second successful year. It provides tuition-free instruction in music, dance, drama and acting for the camera---all taught by professionals in those fields--- to over 100 Bridgeport students.
Laurence A. Caso, Executive Director at The Klein, says, “We’re delighted to welcome V2 Concert Promotion to the Klein and to have this opportunity to honor the entire Carroll family with this award, which recognizes their lifetimes of service to the Bridgeport community. And it is most fitting that we do so just prior to a concert by two of America’s most respected singing groups, Manhattan Transfer and Take 6. Both entertain with a highly charged fusion of unique vocals and styles.”
Manhattan Transfer remains a cornerstone for great pop and jazz hits, a legacy that the group has cemented since their first recording 40 years ago. The legendary quartet has been awarded 10 Grammy Awards of 20 nominations and has been inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. The original members, Janis Siegal, Alan Paul, and Cheryl Bentyne will honor their founding member, Tim Hauser, as they welcome new member Trist Curless.
They are responsible for 19 singles and 29 albums over their stellar career, and their music has been featured in major feature films and television shows. The group has also recorded with an impressive roster of artists including Tony Bennett, Bette Midler, Smokey Robinson, Laura Nyro, Phil Collins, B.B. King, Chaka Khan, James Taylor, and Frankie Valli.
Take 6, founded 27 years ago in Huntsville, Alabama, is the most awarded a cappella group in history (10 Grammy Awards, 10 Dove Awards, a Soul Train Award, and more). Heralded by Quincy Jones as the “baddest vocal cats on the planet!’, Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley), features six virtuosic voices united in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms, innovative arrangements, and funky grooves that bubble into an intoxicating brew of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop. With praise from such luminaries as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald and Whitney Houston, the multi-platinum selling sextet has toured across the globe, collaborated across genres, and is recognized as the pre-eminent a cappella group in the world.
About The Klein: The Klein's inaugural performance in 1940 was by Spanish dancer Manuela Del Rio and her ensemble. Decades of rich and diverse offerings followed, including performances by such artists as pianist Egon Petri, Orson Welles, Isaac Stern, humorist Molly Pican, The Metropolitan Opera, Lunt and Fontanne, Gloria Swanson, and Francis Lederer. The period of the ‘40s, ‘50s and ’60s saw appearances by Yiddish comedian Leo Fuchs, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and civil rights leaders Paul Robeson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
More recently Alice Cooper, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Ziggy Marley, The Fab Faux, Herbie Hancock, George Carlin, Peter Frampton, Boyz II Men, Boz Scaggs and the B-52’s have appeared on The Klein stage. In 2014 the Klein also featured concerts by the Parris Island Marine Corps Band and the Vienna Boys Choir.
In addition to its history as a first-rate concert venue, The Klein proudly hosts and supports local arts and community organizations, such as The Fairfield County Children’s Choir, the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras, New England Ballet, and the All Stars Project of Bridgeport. Local dance recitals, graduations, and union meetings occur regularly at The Klein, and the theater has been the home of the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra throughout its 70-year history.
Contact: The Klein: 910 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06605
Laurence A. Caso, Executive Director (203) 337-6195
E-mail: Laurence@theklein.org