Larry Harlow (musician)
| Larry Harlow | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Lawrence Ira Kahn (aka Larry Harlow Kahn) |
| Born |
20 March 1939 Brooklyn, New York |
| Origin | New York City |
| Genres | Salsa |
| Occupation(s) | pianist, producer |
| Instruments | piano |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Labels | Fania Records |
| Associated acts | Fania All-Stars |
| Website | www |
Larry Harlow (né Lawrence Ira Kahn; born 20 March 1939, Brooklyn) is an American salsa music performer, composer and producer. He was born into a musical American family of Jewish descent.
Harlow is the son of Rose (née Rose Sherman; 1910–1975) and Buddy Kahn (né Nathan Kahn; 1909–1981), and brother of Andy Harlow (né Andre H. Kahn; born 1945). 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 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 garnered a gold disc and spawned "La Lotería", the company’s 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 band’s two ‘bones and flute frontline, after which his brother's career was significantly enhanced.
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. Larry Harlow continues to perform with 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. One of the highlights of the film Our Latin Thing is the Orquesta Harlow 1971 performance of Abran Paso in front of an exuberant and dancing audience in East Harlem with a baby faced Ismael Miranda on vocals.
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