No one knew what we were doing, but there was a perverse and unexpected glory in the whole thing that I was to learn was pure Hal. I first met Hal on the set of Night Music where I was somehow convinced to sing a cover of “Hey Joe” with harmonica player Toots Thielemans and jazz giant Charlie Haden. It is impossible to exaggerate the devastating effect Hal’s passing will have on the collective of people that circled around him, esoteric artists he would corral together to participate in his rambling, hair-brained schemes, that were always a combination of genius, wonder and near-chaos. The news came a day after his sixty-fourth birthday, and with it took away one of the strangest and most sustaining friendships I have ever had. Our dear friend Hal Willner passed away Tuesday.

Here, Cave recalls some of his musical adventures with Willner over the decades.

Cave would go on to work with him on numerous projects, including a Marc Bolan tribute album that Willner was wrapping up upon his death. Willner also nurtured deep friendships that resulted from those collaborations, including with Elvis Costello (who called him “my dear friend”) and Bono (who described him as “a gigantic soul” in a tribute post).Īnother longtime musical collaborator and ally was Nick Cave, who met Willner in the late Eighties on Night Music, the eclectic music showcase that Willner served as music coordinator. Those collections mixed and matched everyone from Tom Waits and Keith Richards to Sun Ra, the Replacements and Sting. When Hal Willner died earlier this week after experiencing symptoms consistent with the coronavirus, the music producer, Saturday Night Live music supervisor and connoisseur of all things left-field and eccentric left behind more than just a series of offbeat and acclaimed tribute albums.

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