Guest ArtistsLani Hall

Grammy® Award-winning vocalist and producer Lani Hall started her singing career in 1966 as the lead singer of Sergio Mendes’s breakthrough group, Brasil ’66. She left behind her city roots in Chicago and, for five years, performed throughout the world. While Lani’s singing career took her on the road, she also focused on her writing – committing to the page her personal impressions of the world around her. Sergio Mendes further expanded her writing career by asking Lani to write the English lyrics for many of the band’s Brazilian songs.

In 1966, A&M Records signed Brasil ’66 and Lani met her future husband, music legend Herb Alpert, who is also the co-founder of A&M Records. Herb and Lani married in 1973.

Lani has the distinction of recording more than 22 albums in three different languages (English, Portuguese and Spanish), and in 1983 she sang the title song for the James Bond film Never Say Never Again. In 1986 Hall won with her first Grammy® Award for Best Latin Pop Performance for her album, Es Facil Amar. Hall picked up her second Grammy® Award as producer on Herb Alpert’s 2013 Grammy-winning album, Steppin’ Out. Since 2006 Hall and Alpert have been touring with their band to sold-out performances.

After establishing a successful solo career in music and becoming a wife and mother, Lani began to explore new creative outlets for her writing. In the early 1980s, while singing in Mexico City, she started writing in short story form. Her writing process is similar to her singing process in so far as she can visualize a song/lyric unfold before her, as if she were watching a movie.

Her debut book, Emotional Memoirs & Short Stories, compiles ten short stories from 30 years of writing short fiction and true stories from her life – all woven together by a connecting personal narrative, with the city of Chicago as the backdrop. Her characters are intelligent, modern women struggling to navigate the uncertain waters of adultery, therapy, cosmetic surgery, postpartum depression and their own sexuality. Lou Adler describes Lani’s book as “free-form as a jazz piece weaving in and out of intriguing situations and indelible characters. She writes as she sings, with emotion and passion.” And now, with the release of her audio book, Emotional Memoirs & Short Stories, Hall has mixed her two creative expressions to make one total experience. With her emotional narration at the forefront, Lani has placed behind it a unique, musically scored soundtrack, creating an emotional landscape of music for all 10 stories, making each chosen scene come to vivid life. Emotional Memoirs & Short Stories gives us a rare glimpse at the double-edged sword that is the life of an artist.

For more information, visit Lani’s website at www.lanihallalpert.com.