The Summit

Take 6 & The Manhattan Transfer

Tim Hauser, who had sung professionally since age 15, formed a mixed vocal jazz group in 1969.
He called it the Manhattan Transfer (after a novel about urban life in the Big Apple during the jazz age).
It only lasted a couple of years, but he tried again in 1972. Thankfully, this iteration persisted.
Ten Grammy Awards later, Tim died of cardiac arrest, but the ensemble survived. Make that thrived!

In 1980, some students at Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, formed an a cappella (vocals-only) gospel group.
The six young men had great individual voices, but it was the unique blend that was truly outstanding to the listener.
Ten Grammy Awards and ten Dove Awards later, they continue to entertain with their special blend of jazz and R&B.

The Manhattan Transfer:
TRIST CURLESS / CHERYL BENTYNE / JANIS SIEGEL / ALAN PAUL

Take 6:
CLAUDE V. McKNIGHT III / KRISTIAN DENTLEY / DAVID THOMAS / MARK KIBBLE / ALVIN CHEA / JOEY KIBBLE

After years of considering the possiblity, Take 6 teamed up with The Manhattan Transfer
for a concert tour billed as The Summit. The performances began in 2015.
Rather than having each play its own set, the groups continually invade each other's space.
The resulting combination of the ten voices appeals to a wide range of vocal harmony fans.
The backup band is minimal, in order to allow the listeners to concentrate on the combination of
singing, scatting, beatboxing, vocal imitation of brass and other instruments, and more singing.
The shows include an expanded arrangement of The Transfer's "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square."
Ironically, another number features members of "voices-only" Take 6 playing keyboards and acoustic guitars!

~ FURTHER READING ~

Two famous "horn rock" bands have more than once teamed up in a similar fashion.
When 8-member Chicago and 12-member Earth Wind & Fire tour together,
they open with a 20-minute set featuring all twenty musicians on stage.
They alternate between co-performing hits from one band then the other, and
even the lead vocals within a given song get traded off between various singers.
A flip of the coin determines the order of the two bands' individual sets.
The grand finale sees another 20-minute combined set. High Energy!