Hank O’Neal (born Harold L. O'Neal Jr.; June 5, 1940) is an American music producer, author and photographer.

Background

His mother, Sarah Christian O’Neal, was a musically and intellectually inclined housewife from Tyler, Texas. His father was a professional soldier and educator in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in Texas and the Pacific (1929–1947) and, following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, an educator and public school superintendent in upstate New York (1953–72). O’Neal was raised in Texas; Bloomington, Indiana; and Syracuse, New York. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1962.

Early career

In 1963, O’Neal accepted employment with the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

remained with it until 1976. He served in the U.S. Army during the same period (1962–1967), rising to the rank of captain.

Music

During a 40-year career in music, he formed two record companies,

Chiaroscuro Records Chiaroscuro Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Hank O'Neal in 1970. The label's name comes from the Chiaroscuro, art term for the use of light and dark in a painting. O'Neal came up with the name via his friend and mentor Eddie ...

and Hammond Music Enterprises, built two recording studios (WARP and Downtown Sound), produced over 200 jazz LPs/CDs and - in conjunction with his business partner,

Shelley M. Shier Shelley M. Shier is a Canadian-American entrepreneur, art consultant, curator, music and theatrical producer. Early life Her mother, Rosaline Cutler Shier Sonshine, remains socially active, primarily in various charities and as an award winning ...

and their production company, HOSS, Inc. - over 100 music festivals (The Floating Jazz Festival, The Blues Cruise, Mardi Gras At Sea, Big Bands At Sea, and others from 1983–2002), 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 that 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) and 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.

Photography

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 Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...

André Kertész André Kertész (; 2 July 1894 – 28 September 1985), born Andor Kertész, was a Hungarian-born photographer known for his groundbreaking contributions to photographic composition and the photo essay. In the early years of his career, his th ...

, 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. Since this time, he focused his activities toward photography, and continues to mount exhibitions yearly throughout the U.S. and Canada. In 1976, O'Neal published the 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.

Humanitarian causes

O'Neal sits on the honorary founders board of The Jazz Foundation of America.JFA.org. 13 October 2009

accessed 13 October 2009. (Archived by Jazz foundation a

O’Neal has served on the boards of non-profit organizations, including the Jazz Museum in Harlem, the Jazz Gallery and the Jazz and Contemporary Program of The New School.jazz.com. 13 October 2009

accessed 13 October 2009. (Archived by Forums.Jazz a

Selected publications

Books (text and illustrations)

*''The Eddie Condon Scrapbook of Jazz'' (St. Martin's Press, 1973) *''A Vision Shared'' (St. Martin's Press, 1976) *''Berenice Abbott - American Photographer'' (McGraw-Hill, 1982) *''Life Is Painful, Nasty and Short ... In My Case It Has Only Been Painful and Nasty - Djuna Barnes L 1978-81'' (Paragon, 1990) *''Charlie Parker'' (Filipacchi, 1995) *''The Ghosts of Harlem'' (Filipacchi, 1997) French language edition *''The Ghosts of Harlem'' (Vanderbilt University Press, 2009) English language edition *''Hank O’Neal Portraits 1971-2000'' (Sordoni Art Gallery, 2000) *''Billie & Lester in Oslo'' (A Play with Music, 2005) *''Gay Day – The Golden Age of the Christopher Street Parade'' (Abrams, 2006) *''Berenice Abbott'' (Steidl, 2008) *''The Unknown Berenice Abbott'' - Steidl (October 15, 2013) *''A Vision Shared - 4oth Anniversary Edition'' - Steidl (December 1, 2016) *''Berenice Abbott - The Paris Portraits'' - Steidl (November 22, 2016)

Books (photographs only)

*''Allegra Kent's Water Beauty Book'' (St Martin's Press, 1976) *''All the King's Men'' (Limited Editions Club, 1990) *''XCIA's Street Art Project: The First Four Decades'' (Siman Media Works, 2012)

Portfolios

*Berenice Abbott - ''Portraits In Palladium'' (Text Only, Commerce Graphics/ Lunn Limited, 1990) *Hank O'Neal - ''Photographs'' (Text and 12 gravure prints), Limited Editions Club, 1990) *''The Ghosts of Harlem'' (Text and 12 photographs), Glenside Press, 2007)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneal, Hank 1940 births Living people American photographers Jazz photographers Nottingham High School (Syracuse, New York) alumni People from Kilgore, Texas Writers from Syracuse, New York Syracuse University alumni United States Army officers American male writers Artists from Syracuse, New York Military personnel from Texas