Hal Willner - Take No Prisoners - Productions & Performances

My introduction to Hal Willner was through his second tribute album, That's the Way I Feel Now - A Tribute to Thelonious Monk, still one of the best tributes around, and more were to follow...

Believe it or not, this double album was my introduction to jazz, an enormous eye-opener for sure!

Much later, I heard his first (and last) album Whoops, I’m An Indian, which goes all over the place. 

Definitely not for the faint-hearted, but intriguing to say the least as it consists of 78 rpm vinyl samples, ambient stuff, drum & bass, and more sounds...

He died (of Covid-19 complications) in 2020, after which a lot of articles about him appeared.

From those, I discovered that he had been very active in the music scene as a producer but also participated in loads of musical projects, incl. spoken word performances, collages, and God knows what else.

He first worked as an associate producer in the seventies and became the sketch music producer of Saturday Night Live, a classic TV program in which many cult artists performed, e.g., Conway Twitty with The Residents! 

Willner produced albums for Marianne Faithfull, Lou Reed, Bill Frisell, Steven Bernstein, William S. Burroughs, Gavin Friday, Lucinda Williams, Laurie Anderson, and Allen Ginsberg, among others. 

His tributes and themed concerts were well received, and he's held in high esteem by many musicians.

Sales, though, were a different story, and most of his tributes can only be found second-hand!

This first collection's focus is on his productions and performances, and includes a wide range of artists and groups.

From the virtually unknown -  Swollen Monkeys, Gary Windo, Beaver Harris, Annie Ross, Joe Piscopo, Lenny Pickett, Lori Carson, and Mark Bingham - to more familiar names - Mathilde Santing, David Sanborn, Patti LaBelle, Gavin Friday, William S. Burroughs, Marianne Faithfull, and Mocean Worker, plus a couple of Willner's solo performances, these all can be found here, enjoy!