In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Alan Paul Biography

Living in: United States
Alan Paul is one of the founding members of The Manhattan Transfer and an eight-time Grammy Award recipient. He was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey and began his professional career on Broadway at the age of 12 in the original Broadway cast of Oliver. As a child actor, he worked extensively in stage, film and TV; some of the productions include The King and I, The Pawnbroker, The Pursuit of Happiness and The Patty Duke Show.

Alan left his professional career in order to go to college and expand his musical studies. He graduated from Kean University earning a BA in Music Education. After graduating from college, Alan returned to New York to pursue his musical career and was cast in the original Broadway production of Grease where he created the roles of Teen Angel and Johnny Casino.

In 1972, while still performing in Grease, Alan met Janis Siegel, Tim Hauser and Laurel Masse' and together formed a vocal group know as The Manhattan Transfer. Cheryl Bentyne replaced Laurel Masse' in 1979 and with a career spanning over 45 years, The Manhattan Transfer has recorded over thirty albums, were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and have received ten Grammy Awards. Known for their eclectic range of singing, they were the first group to ever receive two Grammys in both jazz and pop categories for their top ten recordings of "Boy From NYC" and jazz rendition of Count Basie's "Corner Pocket." Their album, Vocalese, received twelve Grammy nominations of including Best Male jazz vocalist for his rendition of "I Remember Clifford." Vocalesewon three Grammy Awards that year.

In 1992 Alan received two Honorary Doctorate degrees, one in The Humanities from Kean University and another in Music from Berklee College of Music along with his Transfer partners.As a writer and arranger Alan is also well represented having penned such songs as: Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone, Code Of Ethics, Smile Again, Spies In The Night, Malaise en Malaisie, All Heart, The Quietude, What Goes Around Comes Around, Santa Man, Its Good Enough To Keep, Stompin! At Mahogany Hall, Nothin! Could Be Hotter Than That and Ragtime In Pixiland.

Alan has recorded two solo albums, Another Place in Time and most recently, Shu Bop. The latter was produced by Paul and Ted Perlman and pays tribute to classic doo-wop and popular music from the 1950's and early 60's. Some of the singers, vocal groups and arrangers that influenced the making of this album were Dion DiMucchi (Dion and The Belmonts), The Platters, Jackie Wilson and Jimmy Beaumont and The Skyliners. Shu Bop also features two songs that were arranged and conducted by the legendary Ray Ellis who worked on the critically acclaimed Billy Holiday LP, A Lady In Satin.

Another Place and Time, Alan's first solo album, is a compilation of classic standards by writers such as Hoagy Carmichael, Frank Losser, and Michel Legrand. The album features Paul's crooning and swinging sensibilities as beautifully juxtaposed against a tapestry of orchestral and big band arrangements.

In 2006, Alan produced an album for singer Laura Ellis entitled Here Lies Love that was released on King Records in Japan.

In 2016, his record Shu Bop was released. This album pays tribute to classic doo-wop and popular music from the 1950's and early 60's. It also features two songs that were arranged and conducted by the legendary Ray Ellis who worked on the critically acclaimed Billy Holiday LP, A Lady In Satin.

Member of Manhattan Transfer - Founder