News

Brian Avnet, the respected personal manager and music executive who discovered Josh Groban, collaborated with David Foster and helped The Manhattan Transfer to great success, has died. He was 82.

Avnet died May 14 at his home in Los Angeles after a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease, a publicist announced.

The Baltimore native also worked closely with the likes of Johnny Mandel, Herb Alpert and Lani Hall, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Cyndi Lauper, Take 6, Jean-Luc Ponty, Eric Benét and Joshua Ledet.

Avnet began working with The Manhattan Transfer in 1979, and two years later the vocal group became the first to win Grammys in the pop and jazz categories in the same year, earning trophies for “The Boy From New York City” and “Until I Met You (Corner Pocket).”

“Brian was an excellent manager and like a brother to me,” Manhattan Transfer founding member Alan Paul said in a statement.

Legendary jazz singer and lyricist Jon Hendricks, dubbed 'The Poet Laureate of Jazz,' celebrated jazz vocalist and actress Annie Ross, and acclaimed jazz singer Janis Siegel are among the artists who will be honored at the 31st Annual Bistro Awards gala tonight, March 8 at 630 pm at the Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd St. As is the Bistro Awards tradition, the evening will feature performances by the winners.