Neil Larsen (born August 7, 1948) is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

keyboardist, musical arranger and composer. He was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

and grew up in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the sout ...

before relocating to New York and then, in 1977, Los Angeles.

Early life

Larsen was born in

and grew up in

. He learned piano, drawing inspiration from jazz artists

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

and the Modern Jazz Quartet, and from contemporary rock acts. In 1969, he was drafted to serve in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. During his time in Vietnam, he worked as a band director, co-ordinating musical entertainment for US armed forces personnel. After his discharge, he moved to New York to work as a musician.

Career

While in New York in the early 1970s, Larsen wrote television

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

s and played on sessions for various recording artists. He formed the band Full Moon with jazz guitarist

Buzz Feiten Howard "Buzz" Feiten (born November 4, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, session musician, and luthier. He is best known as a lead and rhythm guitarist and for having patented a tuning system for guitars and similar instruments. ...

, and their self-titled debut album was released in 1972. Larsen was briefly a member of the Soul Survivors. He contributed as keyboardist, writer and arranger on their 1974 self-titled album on the TSOP label. He began touring as a member of

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

's band in 1975. In 1977, Larsen relocated to Los Angeles, where he played on sessions by producers such as

Tommy LiPuma Tommy LiPuma (July 5, 1936 – March 13, 2017) was an American music producer. He received 33 Grammy nominations, 5 Grammy wins, and his productions sold over 75 million albums. LiPuma worked with many musicians, including Barbra Streisand, Miles ...

Russ Titelman Russ Titelman (born August 16, 1944, Los Angeles, California) is an American record producer and songwriter. He has to date won three Grammy Awards. He earned his first producing the Steve Winwood song " Higher Love", and his second and third f ...

and

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

. These projects led to Larsen signing with Alpert's record company,

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, for which he recorded on the

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

label. Larsen's debut studio album, ''Jungle Fever'', was released in September 1978. Larsen toured the US in support of the release with a band that included Feiten. The title track from his second studio album, ''High Gear'', was nominated for the 1980

Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Award ...

. The album peaked at number 153 on the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart in the US and included musical contributions from Feiten,

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the '' Modern ...

and Paulinho da Costa. Larsen collaborated further with Feiten in the jazz–rock fusion group the Larsen-Feiten Band. A self-titled album ''The Larsen-Feiten Band'' was released in 1980 on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. He has also recorded and toured with guitarist

Robben Ford Robben Lee Ford (born December 16, 1951) is an American blues, jazz, and rock guitarist. He was a member of the L.A. Express and Yellowjackets and has collaborated with Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Larry Carlton, Rick Sprin ...

, who contributed to Larsen's 2007 album ''Orbit''. His compositions have also been recorded by

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

and

, among others. Larsen took part in

's '' Rubberband'' sessions in 1985–86, which were later released in 2019. His song "Carnival" was later adapted by Davis into the piece "Carnival Time". Larsen has worked as a session musician for many rock artists, including

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two ...

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

and

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

. He was the pianist and musical arranger for the 20th Century Fox Television show '' Boston Legal'', and musical director for jazz singer

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

. From 2008, he toured and recorded as a member of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's band. Larsen performed on Cohen's ''

Old Ideas ''Old Ideas'' is the twelfth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released in January 2012. It is Cohen's highest-charting release in the United States, reaching number 3 on the ''Billboard'' 200, 44 years after the release o ...

'' (2012) album and on the singer's final world tour, in 2012–13. Cohen regularly introduced him on stage as "today's foremost exponent of the Hammond B-3 organ".

Discography

* 1972: ''Full Moon'' (Douglas/Epic) * 1978: ''Jungle Fever'' (Horizon/A&M) * 1979: ''High Gear'' (Horizon/A&M) * 1980: ''Larsen-Feiten Band'' (Warner Bros.) * 1982: ''Full Moon featuring Neil Larsen & Buzz Feiten'' (Warner Bros.) * 1987: ''Through Any Window'' (MCA) * 1989: ''Smooth Talk'' (MCA) * 2002: ''Full Moon Live'' (Dreamsville

apan Apan is a city and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in central-eastern Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 346.9 km². Overview As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 39,247. It was an important site in the Wa ...

note: vintage live recordings from 1980 and 1983. * 2007: ''Orbit'' (Straight Ahead) * 2015: ''Forlana'' (Portico Records)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Neil 1948 births Living people Musicians from Cleveland people from Sarasota, Florida American jazz pianists American male pianists A&M Records artists 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Ohio 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians