- Hal Willner
Hal Willner (born
1957 ,Philadelphia ,Pennsylvania ) is an Americanmusic producer working in recording, films, TV and live events. He is best known for assemblingtribute album s and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical styles (jazz , classical, rock,Tin Pan Alley ).In the
1970s he worked under record producerJoel Dorn . Willner is often credited as the inventor of the 'modern'tribute album with "Amarcord Nino Rota" in 1981. He became music supervisor of "Saturday Night Live " in 1981, a position which he has continued to hold. He was also a producer of the TV program "Sunday Night " hosted byDavid Sanborn .Willner has also produced albums for
Marianne Faithfull ,Lou Reed ,Bill Frisell ,William S. Burroughs ,Gavin Friday ,Lucinda Williams ,Laurie Anderson andAllen Ginsberg , among others. He produced a live tribute concert toTim Buckley , that ultimately launched the career of Tim's son Jeff. He has released one album under his own name: "Whoops, I'm an Indian", which featuredaudio sample s from78 rpm records from the early-mid 20th century.Tribute albums
*"Amarcord Nino Rota" (1981) Willner's first tribute album salutes Italian composer
Nino Rota , and features interpretation of his music forFederico Fellini films by jazz and pop musicians including: Wynton andBranford Marsalis ;Carla Bley ;Muhal Richard Abrams ;Bill Frisell ;Steve Lacy ;Jaki Byard ; andDeborah Harry
*"That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute toThelonious Monk " (1984) features musicians ranging fromJohn Zorn toPeter Frampton
*"" (1985) features musicians ranging from Sting toCharlie Haden
*"" (1988) features performances of songs fromWalt Disney movies by a large cast of artists ranging fromSun Ra toMichael Stipe ,Ringo Starr ,Yma Sumac andKen Nordine
*"Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus" (1992) is a tribute toCharles Mingus , featuring instruments designed and built by American composerHarry Partch , on loan from his estate. Performers includeBill Frisell ,Vernon Reid ,Henry Rollins ,Keith Richards ,Charlie Watts ,Don Byron ,Henry Threadgill ,Gary Lucas ,Bobby Previte ,Robert Quine ,Leonard Cohen ,Diamanda Galás ,Chuck D andElvis Costello
*"September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill" (1995) re-creation of the previous Weill tribute as aCanadian TV special directed by Larry Weinstein. A CD was issued including performances byNick Cave andP J Harvey
*"" (2005) another Larry Weinstein TV program. The CD includes performances byRufus Wainwright ,Debbie Harry ,David Johansen , Eric Mingus andSandra Bernhard
*"" (2006) soundtrack forLian Lunson 's documentary film about Willner'sLeonard Cohen tribute event "Came So Far For Beauty"
*"" (2006) 2x double CD includes performers ranging fromBono toVan Dyke Parks .
*"The Harry Smith Project: Anthology of American Folk Music Revisited" (2006). Recorded at Hal Willner's Harry Smith Project events in London (1999), Brooklyn (1999) and LA (2001), plus a DVD documentary.Live tribute events
* "Greetings From
Tim Buckley " (1991)
*Edgar Allan Poe 's writings (1995), which lead to the album "Closed on Account of Rabies " (1997)
*Marquis de Sade 's writings (1998)
* "The Harry Smith Project" (1999-2001)
* "Came So Far For Beauty, An Evening of Songs by Leonard Cohen" (2003-2006)
* "Forest of No Return: Hal Willner Presents VintageDisney Songbook" (2007)poken word recordings
With the increasing prevalence of tribute albums in the late 1980s (such as "
Red Hot + Blue "), Willner decided to turn his attention tospoken word recordings.*"Dead City Radio" (1990) by William Burroughs has musical backing by
Sonic Youth ,Donald Fagen ,John Cale and others.
*"Spare Ass Annie and Other Tales" (1996) by William Burroughs with music byThe Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy .
*"The Lion For Real" byAllen Ginsberg features musical accompaniment byBill Frisell ,Philip Glass ,Paul McCartney and others.
*"Closed on Account of Rabies" (1997) consists of readings ofEdgar Allan Poe poems and tales byIggy Pop and others. As Willner's only "spoken word" tribute album, it fits in the context of his other music-based tributes.
*"In With The Out Crowd" (1998) by poetBob Holman .
*"Let The Buyer Beware" (2004) is an authoritative six CD box set of historic recordings by thecomedian Lenny Bruce .Film related projects
*"The Carl Stalling Project": A CD of music composed and/or arranged by
Carl Stalling forWarner Brothers cartoons .
* The soundtracks toRobert Altman 's films "Short Cuts " and "Kansas City".
* Produced the soundtrack album withBono and others for theWim Wenders ' movie "The Million Dollar Hotel ".External links
*imdb_name|0932561
* [http://www.citypaper.net/articles/011598/icepack.shtml An article about Willner's spoken word recordings]
* [http://www.ink19.com/issues_F/98_02/ink_spots/hal_willner_nf.html An interview with Willner]
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