Larry Harlow (musician)


Larry Harlow was an American salsa music pianist, performer, composer, band leader and producer. He was born into a musical American family of Jewish descent.
WWW larryharlow.com

Background

Summary

Harlow was born Lawrence Ira Kahn on March 20, 1939, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, the son of Rose and Buddy Kahn, and brother of Andy Harlow.
In 1957, Larry graduated from Music & Arts High School. His mother was an opera singer with the stage name Rose Sherman in New York. His father was the bandleader at the Latin Quarter in New York under the name Buddy Harlowe. Harlow was affectionately nicknamed "El Judío Maravilloso".
Harlow was a noted salsa bandleader and multi-instrumentalist, although he primarily played piano. He produced over 260 albums for Fania Records as well as his manager and musician friend Chino Rodriguez' two albums for Salsa Records and including his brother Andy's 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 album garnered a gold disc and spawned "La Lotería", the Vaya record company's biggest selling 45 rpm release to date.

Music skills

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 was 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 in 1959. Larry's 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.
Harlow continued to perform with Fania. Among his most popular albums were Abran Paso! and Tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez with Ismael Miranda as the lead singer. Larry's opera Hommy was credited as integral to Celia Cruz's comeback. 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), Salsa, and Live in Africa. One of the highlights of the film Our Latin Thing is the Orchestra Harlow's 1971 performance of "Abran Paso" in front of an exuberant and dancing audience in East Harlem with a baby-faced Ismael Miranda on vocals.

Contributions

Among Harlow's further contributions to music was his insistence on creation of a Latin Grammy Award Larry Harlow's 1977 salsa suite La Raza Latina, an ambitious history of the Latin music 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 as well as for his impressive career contributions to the tropical dance music genre, in November 2008 Larry Harlow was presented with the Trustees Award by the Latin Recording Academy.

The Latin Legends Band (a.k.a. Latin Legends of Fania)

In 1994, at the suggestion of his manager at the time Chino Rodriguez, Larry Harlow 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 Band 1998. This was from an idea by Barretto, and today Harlow and the Latin Legends of Fania band continue to work around the world. With this same purpose he collaborated with multi-disciplinary artist David Gonzalez in ¡Sofrito!, a spicy stew of folk tales set to salsa, mambo, and jazz rhythms.
In 2005, Harlow 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

Larry Harlow was inducted into the International Latin Music Hall of Fame in 2000 and was presented with the Beny Moré Memorial Award by the same organization in 2002. In 2008, Larry Harlow was presented with the Latin Grammy Trustees Award. He also received the Legacy Award at the 2016 La Musa Awards.
Larry Harlow held a BA in Music from Brooklyn College, City University of New York since 1963, and a master's degree in philosophy from the New School of Social Research also in New York City.

Latter years and death

Prior to his death, Harlow resided in New York with his wife, and regularly continued to lead and perform with Larry Harlow and the Fania Latin Legends.
Harlow died in the Bronx, New York on August 20, 2021, aged 82, due to heart failure while hospitalized for a renal condition.

Discography

  • Orchestra Harlow, Heavy Smokin'
  • Orchestra Harlow, Gettin' Off
  • Orchestra Harlow, El Exigente
  • Orchestra Harlow, Presenta a Ismael Miranda
  • Orchestra Harlow, Me and My Monkey
  • Orchestra Harlow, Electric Harlow
  • Ambergris, Ambergris
  • Orchestra Harlow, Abran Paso!
  • Orchestra Harlow, Tribute to Arsenio Rodríguez
  • Orchestra Harlow, Harlow's Harem compilation
  • Orchestra Harlow, Oportunidad Frankie Dante & Orquesta Flamboyan Con Larry Harlow
  • Orchestra Harlow, Hommy: A Latin Opera
  • Orchestra Harlow, Salsa
  • Orchestra Harlow, Live in Quad
  • Orchestra Harlow, El Judío Maravilloso
  • Orchestra Harlow, Con Mi Viejo Amigo
  • Orchestra Harlow, The Best of Orchestra Harlow & Ismael Miranda compilation
  • Orchestra Harlow, El Jardinero Del Amor
  • Orchestra Harlow, La Raza Latina: A Salsa Suite
  • Larry Harlow, Presents 'Latin Fever'
  • Orchestra Harlow, El Albino Divino
  • Orchestra Harlow, Rumbambola
  • Larry Harlow, La Responsabilidad
  • Orchestra Harlow, El Dulce Aroma Del Éxito
  • Larry Harlow, Our Latin Feeling
  • Larry Harlow, Así Soy Yo
  • Larry Harlow, Yo Soy Latino
  • Larry Harlow, Señor Salsa
  • Andy & Larry Harlow, The Miami Sessions
  • Larry Harlow, My Time is Now
  • Larry Harlow's Latin Legends Band, 1998
  • Larry Harlow, Romance En Salsa
  • Larry Harlow and the Latin Legends Band, ¡Sofrito!
  • Larry Harlow's Latin Jazz Encounter, Live at Birdland
  • Orchestra Harlow, The Best compilation
  • Larry Harlow's Latin Legends of Fania, 40th Anniversary Live Concert
  • Larry Harlow, La Herencia compilation
  • Orquesta Harlow, Selecciones Fania compilation
  • Larry Harlow & Marlow Rosado, ''Harlow & Marlow, Volume One: Passing the Torch''

Filmography

Our Latin Thing Salsa Celia Cruz and the Fania All Stars: In Africa "Live" June 11, 1994, Puerto Rico Larry Harlow's Latin Legends Of Fania: 40th Anniversary Live Concert