Larry Harlow (salsa) life and biography

Larry Harlow is an American salsa music performer, composer and producer. Larry Harlow was born into a musical family of Jewish American descent.

One of the frequently hidden gems behind the rise of Fania as Latin music's label extraordinaire in the late '60s and early '70s, Larry Harlow served as producer for countless Fania LPs, musical director of the Fania All-Stars, and of course, captain of his own Orchestra Harlow, which sailed along with the expertise of many great musicians and at least one of the greatest soneros of all time, Ismael Miranda. Additionally, during a very turbulent decade for Latin music, Harlow had a foot in both contemporary and traditionalist camps: he recorded an impressive Latin opera that was performed at Carnegie Hall but he worshipped the great tres player Arsenio Rodriguez and recorded an album-length tribute after his death.

Harlow, born Ira Kahn in Brooklyn in 1939, was greatly influenced by his father Buddy Kahn Harlow, a bassist and bandleader. He began piano studies at the age of five, and planned to become a jazz pianist until he first heard the mambo while attending Music and Art High School during the early '50s. During the 1964 World's Fair (held in Flushing, Queens), Harlow played piano for Johnny Pacheco's conjunto before creating the Larry Harlow orchestra. Heavily influenced by the Arsenio Rodriguez sound, Harlow modernized it and was hailed a disciple of "El Ciegito Maravilloso" ("The Marvelous Blind One") and was himself dubbed "El Judio Maravilloso" ("The Marvelous Jew"). After Arsenio's death on December 31, 1970, Harlow emotionally moved the Latin music world with the Fania album Tribute to Arsenio Rodriguez in 1971. Two years later, Harlow made headlines again with his Fania album Hommy, A Latin Opera, which was staged at Carnegie Hall.

Larry Harlow's 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

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