Larry Harlow

born on 20/3/1939 in New York City, NY, United States

died on 20/8/2021

Larry Harlow (salsa)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Larry Harlow (salsa)

Larry Harlow (born March 20, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York, as Lawrence Ira Kahn) is an American salsa music performer, composer and producer. He was born into a musical American family of Jewish descent.[1][2]

Background

Summary

Harlow is a son of the late Rose and Buddy Kahna and the brother of Andy Harlow. His mother was an opera singer with the stage name Rose Sherman in New York. His father was the bandleader at the Latin Quarter (nightclub) in New York under the name Buddy Harlowe. The young Harlow, is affectionately nicknamed el Judio Maravilloso (The Marvelous Jew). Harlow is a noted salsa bandleader and multi-instrumentalist, although he primarily plays piano. He produced over 260 albums for Fania Records including his brother Andys four albums on the Fania stable mate Vaya Records between 1972 and 1976: Sorpresa La Flauta, La Música Brava, El Campesino and Latin Fever. The first garnered a gold disc and spawned "La Lotería", the companys biggest selling 45 rpm to date. Larry recommended that Andy adopt a trombanga sound for the album and eschew his main instrument, the sax, to play flute in the bands two bones and flute frontline, after which his brothers career was significantly enhanced.

Music skills

Larry Harlow excelled at an early age at various instruments. The music and culture of New Yorks Latino community led him to Cuba where he began an intense study of Afro-Cuban music. Harlow, who is known for his innovative blend of Afro-Cuban and jazz styles of piano playing, studied music in the 1950s in Cuba but was unable to complete his degree before the Cuban Revolution forced him to leave the island. Larry and his orchestra, Orquesta Harlow, was the second orchestra signed to the Fania label. Harlow also produced over 106 albums for various artists and over 50 albums on his own besides the ones he produced for Fania. One of the artists he produced was responsible for pulling Harlow out of retirement (Chino Rodriguez) who also became the agent for the Latin Legends of Fania which Larry Harlow continues to perform with. Among his most popular albums were Abran Paso and Tributo a Arsenio Rodriguez with Ismael Miranda as the lead singer. Larry's opera Hommy (inspired by the Who's Tommy) was credited as integral to Celia Cruz's comeback (from an early retirement). In other firsts, Harlow was the first piano player for the legendary salsa group known as the Fania All-Stars, generally regarded as the seminal and most-important Salsa group to date, and Fania's first record producer. He also appeared with the Fania All-Stars in the movies Our Latin Thing (Nuestra Cosa), Live in Africa, and Salsa.

Contributions

Among Harlow's further contributions to music was his insistence on creation of a Latin Grammy Award (before the category merged in 2010 with less-specific Jazz ones). Larry Harlows 1977 salsa suite La Raza Latina, an ambitious history of the Latin music musical genre created with singer/songwriter Rubén Blades, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Partially in recognition of his early efforts to establish the Latin Grammy categories (which for some years were awarded in a separate ceremony) as well as for his impressive career contributions to the tropical dance music genre (and Harlow's jazzified pianistic approach to it), in November 2008 Larry Harlow was presented with the Trustee's Award by the Latin Recording Academy.

The Latin Legends Band aka Latin Legends of FANIA

In 1994, he teamed up with Ray Barreto, Adalberto Santiago, and cuatro guitar virtuoso Yomo Toro (rip) to found the Latin Legends Band, with the aim of both educating Latino and American youth about Latin music heritage and pioneering new ideas in the music, resulting in Larry Harlows Latin Legends of Fania Band 2006. This was an Idea from Ray Barreto, and Chino Rodriguez, Chino became the Agent for the Latin Legends of FANIA band and even had FANIA's president take note and brought back the FANIA All-Star concerts.

In 2005 he contributed to The Mars Volta's album Frances the Mute, on which he played a piano solo toward the end of "L'Via L'Viaquez." He also played piano with the group in some live shows.

Awards

In 2008, Larry Harlow was presented with a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Today

Harlow currently resides in New York with his wife, and regularly continues to lead and perform with Larry Harlow and the Fania Latin Legends.

Discography

  • Heavy Smokin' (Fania, 1966)
  • Bajándote: Gettin' Off (Fania, 1966)
  • El Exigente (Fania, 1967)
  • Presenta an Ismael Miranda (Fania, 1971)
  • Ambergris! (Gatefold, 1970)
  • Me and My Monkey (Fania, 1969)
  • Electric Harlow (Fania, 1970)
  • Abran Paso! (Fania, 1971)
  • Opportunidad (Fania, 1972)
  • Hommy: A Latin Opera (Fania, 1973)
  • Tribute To Arsenio Rodríguez (Fania, 1972)
  • Salsa (Fania, 1974)
  • Live in Quad (Fania, 1974)
  • El Judío Maravilloso (Fania, 1975)
  • Latin Fever (Fania, 1978)
  • La Raza Latina: A Salsa Suite (Fania, 1977)
  • El Jardinero del Amor (Fania, 1976)
  • Con Mi Viejo Amigo (Fania, 1976)
  • El Albino Divino (Fania, 1978)
  • Rumbambola (Fania, 1978)
  • Yo Soy Latino (Fania, 1982)
  • Así Soy Yo (Coco, 1980)
  • Live at Birdland (Latin Cool, 2003)
  • The Latin Legends Band
  • Our Latin Feeling (Nuestro Sentimiento) (Fania, 1980)
  • ¡Sofrito! (Rainart, 2000)
  • Romance en Salsa (Caimán, 1999)
  • Señor Salsa (Tropical Budda, 1984)
  • El Dulce Aroma del Éxito (Fania, 1980)

Gallery

References

  1. Resto Max La salsificación de Israel, El Nuevo Día, October 31, 2007
  2. Larry Rohter, "From Jewish Roots in Brooklyn, a Sizzling Salsa Star", New York Times, August 13, 2010.

External links

This page was last modified 18.02.2014 21:20:11

This article uses material from the article Larry Harlow (salsa) from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.