Vernon Reid, Tribute to Hal Willner
Hal was such a raconteur, and he had such an interesting take on American music. He was really into the nooks and crannies and untold narratives of American music. He liked to play with people’s expectations, and to have unusual different people doing different things with the cannon. That was one of things that I appreciated about him.
He had a way of bringing together people from completely, wildly different walks and getting them to do his stuff. He had a gift for using novelty and the arcane to his advantage. He went where the weird was. He would go down these rabbit holes, and he had a way of leveraging the weird and just intriguing people to go down the rabbit hole with him.
I thought Night Music was kind of this playground—this space for “let’s put this person with that person and see what happens.” Hal managed to carve out this moment where strange sonic bedfellows could happen and be presented to the American public on a major network. That was like a magic trick. He managed to do it until the suits turned around and said, “hey, what are we doing?” The fact he did that and got away with it was extraordinary—he was able to keep the wolves at the door and maintain it for at least a couple of seasons.
I think Night Music affected listeners and young artists that saw it. We need our impresarios, like our Hal Willners. The bills they put together change people’s perspectives and their lives, you know. Artists do what they’re doing. But to combine people to create the strange bedfellows scenario is crucial because American music is about the people from across the tracks that aren’t supposed to be consorting with one another. American music doesn’t work in silos or advance in silos.