She is a lyricist, singer and author born in Chicago, Illinois, who is also known by her married name Lani Hall Alpert.
When she was just heading into her 20s she made her debut appearances in public in Chicago in 1965, continuing until 1966 when she was noticed by Sergio Mendes who asked her to join him as part of his group Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66.
She went to Los Angeles to work with them and found her first chart success when she performed on their “Mas Que Nada”. By this time the group had signed with A&M and a brief time later went on to reach No. 4 on the chart with their cover version of “The Look of Love”.
The group toured with the A&M owner Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass in 1966 and after performing them for a further five years she left the group in 1971 and pursued her solo career.
She released her debut solo album Sun Down Lady in 1972 with Herb Alpert being her arranger and producer and their relationship resulted in them marrying in 1973.
In 1975 she released her second album Hello It’s Me and the following year her Sweet Bird hit the shelves. Also in 1976 her version of “Send in the Clowns” made it to No. 18 in the Billboard charts. Three years later it was Double or Nothing and then going into the 1980s she released A Braziliera in 1981, Albany Park in 1982 and Lani in 1983. Also in 1983 she sang the theme song for the James Bond movie Never Say Never Again.
1984 saw her releasing the albums Lani Hall and Collectables and recording “Corazone Encenado” with Camilo Sesto. The next year Es Facil Amar was issued and won her a Grammy Award for the Best Latin Performance. She also recorded duets with Roberto Carlos and Jose Feliciano. 1986 saw her performing with Sergio Mendes on Brasil ’86 album and in 1987 her albums Classics Volume 19 and Lo Mejor De Lani were released.
During the middle to latter half of the 1980s she became ill with the Epstein Barr virus which stopped her performing and recording for several years and it was more than 10 years before her next solo album Brasil Nativo was released in 1998.
In 2007 she performed with her husband and a band and continued to tour and record with them into the 2010s. In 2008 she made an appearance on Sergio Mendes’ “Dreamer” from the album Escanto, which was also the first occasion that Herb Alpert had performed with both Mendes and his wife at the same time.
During her career she appeared on countless other albums by other artists and some of these include Anything Goes, My Abstract Heart, Steppin’ Out, Under a Spanish Moon and You Smile, The Song Begins by Herb Alpert, Tropico by Gato Barbieri, Wings by Michel Colombier, Gentle Eyes by Art Farmer, Girl at her Volcano by Ricky Lee Jones, Mis Duetos by Jose Jose, Le Cinema de Michel Legrand by Michel Legrand, Four Sider by Sergio Mendes, Stolen…And Other Moments by Mark Murphy, Maiden Voyage by Kellee Patterson, Stories to Tell by Flora Purim, Crazy Life by Gino Vannelli and Copacabana by Sarah Vaughan.
Beginning to write stories in 1982 while touring Mexico she continued for the next 30 years until the publication of her book Emotional Memoirs & Short Stories in 2012.
Sources:
- https://lanihall.herbalpertpresents.com/timeline/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lani_Hall
- http://www.nndb.com/people/835/000047694/
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lani-hall-mn0000103460
- http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lani-hall-mn0000103460/credits
- http://www.discogs.com/artist/104680-Lani-Hall
- http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/stage/20402908-421/lani-hall-herb-alpert-still-a-dynamic-duo-40-years-later.html#.U25TG4xOXDc