Hank O'Neal
| Hank O'Neal | |
|---|---|
Hank O'Neal photographed by Esther Bubley in New York City, August 1995
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| Born |
Harold L. O'Neal, Jr. June 5, 1940 Kilgore, Texas, United States |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University |
| Occupation | Music producer Author Photographer |
| Years active | 1970-present |
| Known for | Founder of Chiaroscuro Records and Hammond Music Enterprises |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United States
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| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1962–1967 |
| Rank |
 Captain
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Hank O’Neal (born June 5, 1940) is an American music producer, author and photographer. He is equally well known in all these disciplines.
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 US Army in Texas and the Pacific (1929–1947) and, following World War II, an educator and public school superintendent in upstate New York (1953–72). O’Neal was raised throughout Texas (primarily Fort Worth), and in Bloomington, Indiana, and Syracuse, New York. After first attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he graduated from Syracuse University in 1962.
In 1960 O’Neal was introduced to a representative of the Central Intelligence Agency and ultimately accepted employment with that organization. He reported for duty in January 1963 and remained with the CIA in Washington D.C. and New York City until 1976. He served in the US Army during the same period (1962–1967), rising to the rank of Captain. The nature of his employment allowed him the flexibility of pursuing other interests during these years.
During a forty-year career in music, he formed two record companies, Chiaroscuro Records 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 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 a number of books and articles on jazz, photographed most of the giants of jazz 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 more recently 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.
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