Larry Harlow (salsa)
| Larry Harlow | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lawrence Ira Kahn |
| Born | 20 March 1939 Brooklyn, New York |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genres | Salsa |
| Occupations | pianist, producer |
| Instruments | piano |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Labels | Fania Records |
| Associated acts | Fania All-Stars |
| Website | www.larryharlow.com |
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]
Contents |
[edit] Background
[edit] Summary
Harlow is a son of the late Rose and Buddy Kahn. 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. He is the director of the Latin Legends of Fania, among other groups.
[edit] Music skills
Larry Harlow excelled at an early age at various instruments. The music and culture of New York’s 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. 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.
[edit] 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 Harlow’s 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.
[edit] El Judio ContraAtaKa
In 1994, he teamed up with Ray Barreto, Adalberto Santiago, and cuatro guitar virtuoso Yomo Toro 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 Harlow’s Latin Legends of Fania Band 2006.
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.
[edit] Awards
In 2008, Larry Harlow was presented with a Latin Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Discography
- Heavy Smokin' (1965)
- Bajandote
- El Exigente
- Presenta A Ismael Miranda
- Ambergris!
- Me and My Monkey
- Electric Harlow
- Abran Paso
- Oportunidad con Ismael Miranda
- Hommy: A Latin Opera (1973)
- Tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez
- Salsa
- Live in Quad
- El Judio Maravilloso (1975)
- Latin Fever
- La Raza Latina: A Salsa Suite
- El Jardinero del Amor
- Con Mi Viejo Amigo
- Orchestra Harlow con Nestor Sanchez
- Rumbambola
- Yo Soy Latino
- Asi Soy Yo
- Live at Birdland
- The Latin Legends Band
- Our Latin Feeling
- Sofrito
- Romance en Salsa
- Senor Salsa
- El Dulce Aroma Del Exito
[edit] Gallery
-
Harlow's partial CD collection at Radio Voz WVOZ Puerto Rico (2006)
[edit] References
- ^ Resto Max La salsificación de Israel, El Nuevo Día, October 31, 2007
- ^ Larry Rohter, "From Jewish Roots in Brooklyn, a Sizzling Salsa Star", New York Times, August 13, 2010.
