#4352, Remembering Hal Willner

For this New Sounds, it’s a tribute to Hal Wilner, the American music producer and longtime music supervisor for Saturday Night Live, who died this week from COVID-19. He left behind a number of recordings, many devoted to one artist, like the music of Thelonious Monk, Nino Rota, or Kurt Weil. Then there was the weird and wonderful Disney compilation called Stay Awake, an album of Charles Mingus tunes which brought in the Partch instruments, and two recent collections of pirate songs and sea chantys. Plus, revisit an interview with Hal Willner, recorded in 2013 in The Greene Space.

Producer Hal Willner’s reputation for curious deep dives into the music of one artist extends back to the 1980’s, where he brought together known and unknown musicians like Debbie Harry or Bill Frisell, to Sun Ra for musical re-interpretations of film scores by Nino Rota, or songs featured in Disney films. Willner’s most adventurous foray like this was a record devoted to music by Charles Mingus, Weird Nightmare: Meditations on Mingus, where he incorporated the singular instruments invented and designed by Harry Partch, and called on folks from Diamanda Galas to Don Byron, Keith Richards to Chuck D, and Bobby Previte to Henry Rollins.

Listen to selections from many of these compilations, along with music from his more recent Rogue’s Gallery collections of bawdy buccaneer tunes. Plus, hear some of Willner’s 2013 interview from Soundcheck in the Greene Space where he talked about just how one goes about creating an album of pirate songs, and brought along Shilpa Ray and Ed Pastorini to perform a unique take from the album.

Program #4352, Remembering Hal Willner (First aired 4/09/2020)

ARTIST: Various Artists: Tom Waits
WORK: Heigh Ho! [1:00]
RECORDING: Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films
SOURCE: A&M #CD-3918
INFO: available for purchase at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Various Artists: Bill Frisell
WORK: Juliet of the Spirits [4:41]
RECORDING: Amarcord Nino Rota
SOURCE: Hannibal Records, reissued in 2018
INFO: https://corbettvsdempsey.bandcamp.com/album/amarcord-nino-rota

ARTIST: Shilpa Ray, with Ed Pastorini
WORK: Pirate Jenny [5:23]
RECORDING:  Live, The Greene Space in 2013
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The song appears on the record Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys by Various Artists

ARTIST: Various Artists: Shane MacGowan
WORK: Leaving of Liverpool [4:00]
RECORDING:  Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys
SOURCE: Anti 86904
INFO: anti.com/artists/rogues-gallery

ARTIST: Various Artists: Tom Waits
WORK: Heigh Ho! [3:31]
RECORDING: Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films
SOURCE: A&M #CD-3918
INFO: available for purchase at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Various Artists: Sun Ra & His Arkestra
WORK: Pink Elephants On Parade [2:31]
RECORDING: Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films
SOURCE: A&M #CD-3918
INFO: available for purchase at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Various Artists: Sharon Freeman ft Willy Ruff
WORK: Monk's Mood [3:38]
RECORDING: That’s The Way I Feel Now – A Tribute To Thelonious Monk
SOURCE: A & M #SP – 6600
INFO: Out of print LP.

ARTIST: Various Artists: Bill Frisell, Wayne Horvitz, Ken Nordine
WORK: desolation theme  [3:00]
RECORDING: Stay Awake: Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films
SOURCE: A&M #CD-3918
INFO: available for purchase at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Various Artists: Lou Reed
WORK: September Song [4:41]
RECORDING: Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill
SOURCE: 75021-5104-2
INFO: Out of print LP.

ARTIST: Various Artists: Beth Orton
WORK: Bamboo (River Come Down) [4:28]
RECORDING:  Son of Rogues Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs & Chanteys
SOURCE: Anti 86904
INFO: anti.com/artists/rogues-gallery

ARTIST: Various Artists: Don Byron, Diamanda Galas, Henry Threadgill, Leonard Cohen
WORK: Eclipse  [4:30]
RECORDING:  Weird Nightmare - Meditation On Mingus
SOURCE: Columbia 52739
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, Spotify