Tim Hauser | Manhattan Transfer leader, 72

Tim Hauser, 72, the founder and guiding force behind the Manhattan Transfer, a Grammy-winning pop-jazz vocal group that enjoyed decades of worldwide acclaim, died Thursday at a hospital in Sayre, Pa.

Mr. Hauser, a onetime advertising and marketing executive, formed the Manhattan Transfer in 1972 as a modern-day throwback to the intricate vocal harmonies of an earlier era. With few changes in personnel, and none since 1979, the two men and two women of Manhattan Transfer became one of the most successful and enduring vocal groups in history, recording more than 20 albums and winning 10 Grammy Awards.

Mr. Hauser developed the concept for the group as a student at Villanova University, he told the Washington Post in 1986. He told one of his music professors that he wanted two men and two women singing complex, interweaving parts.

In 1981, the Manhattan Transfer became the first group ever to win Grammy Awards for best pop vocal (for "The Boy From New York City," the group's biggest hit) and best jazz vocal (for a version of "Corner Pocket," first performed in the 1950s by the Count Basie Orchestra).

The Transfer's 1985 album, Vocalese, which put words to 11 instrumental jazz numbers, received 12 Grammy nominations - second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller for the most in history. - Washington Post