Tim Ha

Timothy DuPron Ha (December 12, 1941 – October 16, 2014) was a singer and founding member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. He won 10 Grammy Awards as a member of The Manhattan Transfer. Ha was born in Troy, New York. When he was seven he moved with his family to the Jersey Shore, living in Wanamassa, Ocean Township, Monmouth County, and, later, in Asbury Park.

He graduated in 1959 from St. Rose High School (Belmar), where an award in his name has been given every year since 1989 to students who excel in theater arts. When he was fifteen, he began to sing professionally. He founded a doo-wop quartet named The Criterions. For the Cecilia label the Criterions recorded two singles: "I Remain Truly Yours" and "Don't Say Goodbye".

The group appeared on the Big Beat Show hosted by Alan Freed. In 1959, Ha entered Villanova University. With Tommy West and Jim Ruf, both from The Criterions, he formed the folk group the Troubadours Three. He was a member of the Villanova Singers and the Villanova Spires/Coventry Lads with classmate Jim Croce. He spent four years on the staff of college radio station WWVU.

In 1963, he graduated from Villanova with a degree in economics. In 1964, Ha served in the United States Air Force and the New Jersey Air National Guard. In 1965, he began his career in marketing. From 1965 to 1966, he worked as a market research analyst with the advertising agency Sullivan, Stauffer, Colwell, and Bayles. His s included Pepsodent Toothpaste (Lever Bros.

), Micrin Mouthwash (Johnson & Johnson), and Rise Shaving Cream (Carter Products). From 1966 to 1968, he worked as manager of the Market Research Department for the Special Products Division of Nabisco. His s included cereal and pet food. In 1969, he formed the first version of The Manhattan Transfer with Gene Pistilli, Marty Nelson, Erin Dickins, and Pat Rosalia.

The group had a jazz/R&B sound and recorded one album, Jukin' , for Capitol Records under manager Richard Flanzer. This version of the group dissolved after one album. Ha drove a cab to himself while pursuing a music career. Through this job, he met Laurel Massé, a waitress and aspiring singer. He was again driving his cab when he picked up the conga player for the group Laurel Canyon who invited him to a party where he met Janis Siegel.

With Massé they reformed The Manhattan Transfer. They needed a male singer, so they ed Alan Paul. The four became The Manhattan Transfer on October 1, 1972. After a car accident, Massé decided to leave the group and pursue a solo career, and in 1978 Cheryl Bentyne was hired to replace her. From then until Ha's death, the line-up was mostly unchanged with only occasional substitutions due to illness.

After his death, he was replaced by Trist Curless. The Manhattan Transfer won the Downbeat and Playboy Readers' Polls every year in the 1980s for best vocal group. In 2007, they won the JazzTimes Readers' Poll for best vocal group. When Ahmet Ertegün founded the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he selected Ha to serve on the voting committee, a position he held for three years (1986–1989).

In 1993, Ha was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the Berklee College of Music. ... Source: Article "Tim Ha" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.