Lani Hall

Music career

Her first public appearance occurred at The Centaur, a coffee house in Old Town, Chicago in 1965. She was heard by Brazilian pianist and bandleader Sérgio Mendes, who was on tour in Chicago. He first heard her perform at a benefit at Mother Blue's, another club in Old Town. His group, Brasil '65 was disbanding, and he invited Hall to come to Los Angeles to be the lead singer of his new project, Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66. She agreed, and six months later the group signed a contract with A&M Records.

Unlike the previous incarnation, Brasil '66 was an instant success - making a significant impact on the charts with its first single, a version of the Brazilian song "Mas Que Nada". Much of the song's appeal was due to Hall’s distinctive, multi-tracked vocals and Herb Alpert's expertise as producer.

A series of popular interpretations followed, including their take on The Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill" and "Day Tripper". The band was the opening act that toured alongside A&M label mates (and label founder) Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass in 1966. Mid-way through the production of the folk-rock concept album Stillness she left Brasil '66 in 1971, and was replaced by Mendes' wife Gracinha Leporace. In December 1973, Hall married Herb Alpert at their Malibu home.

With Alpert assuming production duties, Hall embarked on a solo career, beginning with 1972's Sun Down Lady and following up with Hello It's Me in 1975. She recorded regularly throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including singing the title song to the James Bond film Never Say Never Again, in 1983, produced by Mendes and Alpert.

Beginning in 1982, Hall recorded several successful Latin pop albums in Spanish, culminating in 1985's Es Fácil Amar, produced by Albert Hammond, for which she received the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Performance. Amongst her Spanish hits were "Un Amor Así" and "De Repente El Amor", duets with José Feliciano and Roberto Carlos, respectively; "Para Vivir Así," which features Herb Alpert on trumpet; and another duet, "Te Quiero Así" with the iconic José José (who also began his career with a bossa nova/jazz band). She recorded "Corazón Encadenado" with Camilo Sesto in 1984. Ironically, the vocalist doesn't speak Spanish.

In the mid-1980s, Hall contracted a debilitating case of Epstein–Barr virus and was forced to take a break from performing. She returned in 1998 with the album Brasil Nativo on the Windham Hill label. In 2008, she reunited with Mendes again, performing the song "Dreamer" on his album Encanto, which also featured Herb Alpert on trumpet.

In 2007, she and Alpert put a band together consisting of pianist/composer Bill Cantos, bassist Hussain Jiffry and drummer/percussionist Michael Shapiro, developing new arrangements for jazz standards and Brazilian songs. From then until the present, they have continued to tour, and have released three CDs, Anything Goes in 2009, I Feel You in 2011 and Steppin' Out in 2013, which won a Grammy Award for both Alpert (artist) and Hall (producer).

As a young girl, Hall began writing poetry. She started writing short stories in 1982 while on tour in Mexico City. In 2012 she published her book, Emotional Memoirs & Short Stories. Written over the course of more than thirty years, the book contains fiction and nonfiction stories that describe women coping with the vicissitudes of life.

Hall enjoys spending time with her three children and six grandchildren, and she lives with her husband in California.