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American music producer, author and photographer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hank O’Neal (born Harold L. O'Neal Jr.; June 5, 1940) is an American music producer, author, and photographer.
Hank O'Neal | |
|---|---|
 O'Neal in August 1995 | |
| Born | Harold L. O'Neal, Jr. June 5, 1940 Kilgore, Texas, United States |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University |
| Occupation(s) | Music producer Author Photographer |
| Years active | 1970-present |
| Known for | Founder of Chiaroscuro Records and Hammond Music Enterprises |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1962–1967 |
| Rank |  Captain |
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (April 2018) |
Hank O'Neal's mother, Sarah Christian O’Neal, was a homemaker from Tyler, Texas; she was musical and intellectual. Hank's father was a soldier in the U.S. Army in Texas and the Pacific (1929–1947) and after World War II, an educator and public school superintendent in upstate New York (1953–72). Hank O'Neal grew up in Texas, Bloomington, Indiana; and Syracuse, New York. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1962.
| This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (April 2018) |
O’Neal worked for the CIA from 1963 until 1976. He served in the U.S. Army during the same period (1962–1967), rising to the rank of captain.
During a 40-year career in music he formed two record companies, Chiaroscuro Records[1][2] and Hammond Music Enterprises,[3] built two recording studios (WARP and Downtown Sound),[4] produced over 200 jazz LPs/CDs and in conjunction with his business partner, Shelley M. Shier and their production company, HOSS, Inc. produced over 100 music festivals (The Floating Jazz Festival,[5][6] The Blues Cruise, Mardi Gras At Sea,[7] Big Bands At Sea, and others from 1983–2002). He published books and articles on jazz, photographed most of the major jazz musicians from the second half of the 20th century, exhibited these photographs regularly and served on the boards of various non-profit organizations which serve the jazz community, including the Jazz and Contemporary Music Program of The New School (1985 to present), The Jazz Foundation of America (1993 to present), the Jazz Gallery (1995 to present), and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. He is a lifetime member of The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
O'Neal began taking photographs while a teenager, and he had his first exhibition in September 1973 at The Open Mind Gallery in New York City. In the 1970s, he associated with a diverse group of photographers notably Walker Evans, André Kertész, and most importantly, Berenice Abbott, with whom he worked for the last 19 years of her life.
From 1970 to 1999 (in addition to undertaking many photographic projects), O’Neal published many books related to photography. In 1999, he had a major retrospective of his work to that point at The Witkin Gallery.[8] Since this time, he focused his activities toward photography, and continues to mount exhibitions yearly throughout the U.S. and Canada. In 1976, he published a photo book "A Vision Shared". It documents efforts undertaken under the FDR Administration to create a visual, historical record of the situation in the United States during the Great Depression.[9]
In January 1985, Allan Ginsburg asked O'Neal to take portraits of Andy Warhol at his studio for a film about Ginsburg's life. After Hank took the expressionless portraits of Warhol he decided to paint over the negatives after the shoot and in 2005 created digital versions of the images.
O'Neal sits on the honorary founders board of The Jazz Foundation of America.[10] O’Neal has served on the boards of non-profit organizations, including the Jazz Museum in Harlem, New York; the Jazz Gallery, and the Jazz and Contemporary Program of The New School.[11]
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