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By Don Heckman
Tim Hauser, right, performs with Alan Paul and Janis Siegel of The
Manhattan Transfer, a vocal group that took its name from the John Dos
Passos novel. (Evening Standard, Getty Images)
Track Listing
1. Four Brothers
2. Rambo
3. Meet Benny Bailey
4. Airegin
5. To You
6. Sing Joy Spring
7. Move
8. That's Killer Joe
9. The Duke Of Dubuque
10. Gloria
11. Heat's Desire
12. Birdland
13. On The Boulevard
14. Shaker Song
15. Java Jive
16. Blue Champagne
17. How High The Moon
18. Boy From New York City
19. Ray's Rockhouse
Singer Tim Hauser, the founder of the Grammy-winning vocal quartet
The Manhattan Transfer, a group he established in 1969, has died. He was
72.
Hauser, a Los Angeles resident, died Thursday of a heart
attack in Pennsylvania, according to the group's publicist, JoAnn
Geffen.
"Tim was the visionary behind The Manhattan Transfer," the
remaining members of the ensemble — Cheryl Bentyne, Alan Paul and Janis
Siegel — said in a statement posted on Facebook. "It's incomprehensible
to think of this world without him."
Hauser was drawn to vocal ensemble music from his youth, fascinated
initially by the doo-wop styles of the early rock era and later by folk
and country music before discovering jazz. And, from the founding of the
first installment of The Manhattan Transfer to the present day, the
ensemble's music has embraced those elements and more.
"The whole key," Hauser explained in Irwin Stambler's "Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock
and Soul," "was to sing four-part harmony. Nobody was doing it then, and
nobody is doing it now. When you do four-part harmony, you get into
jazz."
Hauser was correct in his forecast of the future of The
Manhattan Transfer. Despite their extraordinary versatility, the group,
under Hauser's guidance, has long reigned as the jazz world's principal
vocal ensemble, while often demonstrating their capabilities with pop,
rock and country styles.
"Our original goal," Hauser told The Times in 1997, "was to sound
like the Count Basie saxophone section. And I think we came pretty close
here. But we also wanted to have other sounds too — that George
Shearing vibes, guitar and piano combination is one, but we modified it a
bit by using Buddy Emmons on steel guitar."
The quartet's first album, released in 1975 and self-titled, produced the hit remake of the
gospel classic "Operator." The group's visibility increased dramatically
in the mid-1970's when The Manhattan Transfer headlined a 1975 summer
replacement show on CBS-TV. Many jazz listeners saw the group's vocal
skills as the logical successors to the vocalese mastery of the Lambert,
Hendricks & Ross trio.
Dozens of other accomplishments followed — more hit records, international tours and Grammy Awards.
Even that wasn't enough for the musically active mind of Hauser. Applying
the production skills that generated such extraordinary results for The
Manhattan Transfer albums, he achieved similar results with other
artists.
Among them: Richie Cole's "Pop Bop" album and Eddie
Jefferson's final recording session. And when he was booked to produce
the soundtrack for the film "The Marrying Man," he also made his acting
debut as Woody the bandleader. In one of his rare departures from the
Manhattan Transfer, he recorded a 2007 solo album, "Love Stories."
Hauser was born Dec. 12, 1941, in Troy, N.Y., and as a child moved with his
family to Asbury Park, N.J. Drawn to vocal music at an early age, he
told the Asbury Park Press about hearing Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
in 1956.
"They sang 'I Promise to Remember' a cappella," Hauser
recalled, "and … I swear that was my turning point. That was God's way
of saying, 'Here's your gig, son, and if you don't get it, it's not my
fault.' "
Shortly thereafter, Hauser assembled a vocal quintet he
called The Criterions, who recorded a pair of singles and performed on
Alan Freed's early rock music television show, "The Big Beat." He was
only 17 when the first song he produced, "Harlem Nocturne" for the
Viscounts, reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts.
At Villanova University, Hauser sang with the Villanova Singers and a folk music
trio, the Troubadour Three, who toured the U.S. on a bill of the
Hootenanny Stars of 1963. After graduating that year with a degree in
economics, he served briefly in the Air Force and the National Guard.
After his discharge, Hauser worked in marketing and advertising before
founding the original installment of The Manhattan Transfer with Erin
Dickins, Marty Nelson, Gene Pistilli and Pat Rosalia in 1969. The name
traced to John Dos Passos' 1925 novel about New York City, "Manhattan
Transfer." The initial incarnation recorded one album, "Jukin,' " on
Capitol Records before creative differences separated the group.
Although his fascination with vocal music and his desire to form another
ensemble were undiminished, Hauser began driving a cab to make a living.
And it was while he was behind the wheel that he met a singer named
Laurel Masse. Then another passenger introduced him to Janis Siegel.
Deciding that the ideal grouping would require another male singer, they found
Alan Paul, who was working on Broadway in "Grease" and, in 1972, the
second installment of the Manhattan Transfer was created.
Seven years later, Masse left the group after a near-fatal car accident, and Hauser searched for a replacement.
"We wanted somebody who could blend with our sound, who could cut it as a
soloist, and someone we could get along with," he told Down Beat. "And
then Cheryl Bentyne walked in. She sang 'Candy,' and it was the sound."
With that decision, the final version of The Manhattan Transfer was
established. The group said Friday that it plans to continue its current
tour.
Hauser's survivors include his wife, Barb Sennet Hauser; a son, Basie, and a daughter, Lily.
[email protected]
Tim Hauser, right, performs with Alan Paul and Janis Siegel of The
Manhattan Transfer, a vocal group that took its name from the John Dos
Passos novel. (Evening Standard, Getty Images)
Track Listing
1. Four Brothers
2. Rambo
3. Meet Benny Bailey
4. Airegin
5. To You
6. Sing Joy Spring
7. Move
8. That's Killer Joe
9. The Duke Of Dubuque
10. Gloria
11. Heat's Desire
12. Birdland
13. On The Boulevard
14. Shaker Song
15. Java Jive
16. Blue Champagne
17. How High The Moon
18. Boy From New York City
19. Ray's Rockhouse
Singer Tim Hauser, the founder of the Grammy-winning vocal quartet
The Manhattan Transfer, a group he established in 1969, has died. He was
72.
Hauser, a Los Angeles resident, died Thursday of a heart
attack in Pennsylvania, according to the group's publicist, JoAnn
Geffen.
"Tim was the visionary behind The Manhattan Transfer," the
remaining members of the ensemble — Cheryl Bentyne, Alan Paul and Janis
Siegel — said in a statement posted on Facebook. "It's incomprehensible
to think of this world without him."
Hauser was drawn to vocal ensemble music from his youth, fascinated
initially by the doo-wop styles of the early rock era and later by folk
and country music before discovering jazz. And, from the founding of the
first installment of The Manhattan Transfer to the present day, the
ensemble's music has embraced those elements and more.
"The whole key," Hauser explained in Irwin Stambler's "Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock
and Soul," "was to sing four-part harmony. Nobody was doing it then, and
nobody is doing it now. When you do four-part harmony, you get into
jazz."
Hauser was correct in his forecast of the future of The
Manhattan Transfer. Despite their extraordinary versatility, the group,
under Hauser's guidance, has long reigned as the jazz world's principal
vocal ensemble, while often demonstrating their capabilities with pop,
rock and country styles.
"Our original goal," Hauser told The Times in 1997, "was to sound
like the Count Basie saxophone section. And I think we came pretty close
here. But we also wanted to have other sounds too — that George
Shearing vibes, guitar and piano combination is one, but we modified it a
bit by using Buddy Emmons on steel guitar."
The quartet's first album, released in 1975 and self-titled, produced the hit remake of the
gospel classic "Operator." The group's visibility increased dramatically
in the mid-1970's when The Manhattan Transfer headlined a 1975 summer
replacement show on CBS-TV. Many jazz listeners saw the group's vocal
skills as the logical successors to the vocalese mastery of the Lambert,
Hendricks & Ross trio.
Dozens of other accomplishments followed — more hit records, international tours and Grammy Awards.
Even that wasn't enough for the musically active mind of Hauser. Applying
the production skills that generated such extraordinary results for The
Manhattan Transfer albums, he achieved similar results with other
artists.
Among them: Richie Cole's "Pop Bop" album and Eddie
Jefferson's final recording session. And when he was booked to produce
the soundtrack for the film "The Marrying Man," he also made his acting
debut as Woody the bandleader. In one of his rare departures from the
Manhattan Transfer, he recorded a 2007 solo album, "Love Stories."
Hauser was born Dec. 12, 1941, in Troy, N.Y., and as a child moved with his
family to Asbury Park, N.J. Drawn to vocal music at an early age, he
told the Asbury Park Press about hearing Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
in 1956.
"They sang 'I Promise to Remember' a cappella," Hauser
recalled, "and … I swear that was my turning point. That was God's way
of saying, 'Here's your gig, son, and if you don't get it, it's not my
fault.' "
Shortly thereafter, Hauser assembled a vocal quintet he
called The Criterions, who recorded a pair of singles and performed on
Alan Freed's early rock music television show, "The Big Beat." He was
only 17 when the first song he produced, "Harlem Nocturne" for the
Viscounts, reached No. 3 on the Billboard charts.
At Villanova University, Hauser sang with the Villanova Singers and a folk music
trio, the Troubadour Three, who toured the U.S. on a bill of the
Hootenanny Stars of 1963. After graduating that year with a degree in
economics, he served briefly in the Air Force and the National Guard.
After his discharge, Hauser worked in marketing and advertising before
founding the original installment of The Manhattan Transfer with Erin
Dickins, Marty Nelson, Gene Pistilli and Pat Rosalia in 1969. The name
traced to John Dos Passos' 1925 novel about New York City, "Manhattan
Transfer." The initial incarnation recorded one album, "Jukin,' " on
Capitol Records before creative differences separated the group.
Although his fascination with vocal music and his desire to form another
ensemble were undiminished, Hauser began driving a cab to make a living.
And it was while he was behind the wheel that he met a singer named
Laurel Masse. Then another passenger introduced him to Janis Siegel.
Deciding that the ideal grouping would require another male singer, they found
Alan Paul, who was working on Broadway in "Grease" and, in 1972, the
second installment of the Manhattan Transfer was created.
Seven years later, Masse left the group after a near-fatal car accident, and Hauser searched for a replacement.
"We wanted somebody who could blend with our sound, who could cut it as a
soloist, and someone we could get along with," he told Down Beat. "And
then Cheryl Bentyne walked in. She sang 'Candy,' and it was the sound."
With that decision, the final version of The Manhattan Transfer was
established. The group said Friday that it plans to continue its current
tour.
Hauser's survivors include his wife, Barb Sennet Hauser; a son, Basie, and a daughter, Lily.
[email protected]