Jazz Aficionados Discuss Hank O'Neal's Book

contents

jazz

Many people have lived in and visited Harlem, but few people have seen it the way photographer and author Hank O'Neal has. Not only did he look at the neighborhood through his own eyes and the lens of his camera, he also got a first-hand view from musicians who lived there, worked there and, most of all, made music there. He turned his journey into The Ghosts Of Harlem, a 432-page book of interviews and photos published by Vanderbilt University Press (in stores July 20).

To hear some "Ghost" stories and a discussion of the book by three of the foremost authorities in the world of jazz: George Wein, the celebrated producer of thousands of entertainment events; Nat Hentoff, the Dean of American jazz and social critic and Dr. Billy Taylor, the noted pianist, educator and television personality who is also the subject of a section in The Ghosts of Harlem, join O'Nealand friends at the Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway ay 12th Street in Manhattan on Tuesday, July 28 at 7:00 pm. O'Neal will act as moderator of the discussion.

From 1985 - 2007, O'Neal interviewed artists who made music in Harlem during the community's heyday and decline. He took their portraits with a large-format view camera and talked with them about jazz venues, racial interaction and why the Harlem music scene faded. Supplemented with many of his other photographs as well as memorabilia and historical photos, the book is accompanied by a CD that O'Neal produced from the archives of his record company, Chiaroscuro Records, featuring music by 17 of the "ghosts, " including Cab Calloway, Milt Hinton, Doc Cheatham, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Tate, Eddie Barefield, Earl Hines and Illinois Jacquet, performing between 1972 and 1996.

Hank O'Neal is equally well known as a music producer, author and photographer. As a child growing up in Texas (born in Kilgore in 1940), he first experienced the joys of photography when he watched his father print World War II pictures and family portraits in a kitchen darkroom. At age 12, he won a Brownie Hawkeye camera in a drawing and soon began taking and processing his own pictures. Following the War, the O'Neals moved to Syracuse, NY, and Hank attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute before graduating from Syracuse University in 1962. Prior to graduation, Hank was introduced to a representative from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and ultimately accepted employment with the organization. He reported for duty in 1963 and remained with the CIA for 13 years. The nature of his employment allowed him the flexibility of pursuing other interests, including photography and music. He moved to New York from Washington, DC, in 1967 and still lives in the culturally-diverse Greenwich Village. During 40 years in the music business, O'Neal formed two record companies (Chiaroscuro Records and Hammond Music Enterprises), owned and operated two recording studios, produced more than 200 jazz records and 100 music festivals (with his partner Shelley Shier) and served on the boards of various non-profit organizations, including the Jazz Foundation of America, the Jazz Museum in Harlem, the Jazz Gallery and the Jazz and Contemporary Program of The New School.

write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page