There was a time when out of the blue I was asked to become the publicist for one of the most complex yet intriguing individuals I have ever known. As I wrote in The First Book of Oregon Jazz, Rock & All Sorts of Music: A sporadic Portlander, coming home to roost now and again, Marc Hannibal has wandered far and wide through a host of careers ... most recently a lounge singer ... ah, but the first career of this tall, handsome Black man with freckles and an engaging grin was playing basketball with the Harlem Globetrotters... and later he broke into tv as an actor.

Yes, it reads like an illustrious career but when I met him he was at a low ebb, fed up with typecasting. As he told me, "Hollywood was stifling. I was always in the same role it seemed, I was either a cop or a fingerprint expert. And the commercials stopped because I wasn't in a 'street' image. Can you believe they actually wanted to make me darker! TV is an animal."

When I met him he'd also been through a rough, wallet-draining divorce and  was licking both career and personal wounds. Still, he had this sensual sultry baritone voice that had to be heard! So I became his publicist -- an unpaid gig that with no background in the music business was invaluable for, among other things, introducing me to all the music, musicians and clubs of Portland's then-burgeoning music scene.

And Marc Hannibal's singing? Well, I was there at the Greenwood every Sunday night for nearly a year (on his bar bill, I might add) and every so often would find a woman weeping in the ladies room. They always said his voice just got to them.

Enjoy one of my favorites that I just converted from his old Phillips album: "When the Wind Blows in Chicago."

Played: 24 | Download | Duration: 00:04:00

Positively,
Carolan