Carlos Alomar

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Carlos Alomar
Background information
Birth nameCarlos Alomar
Born (1951-05-07) 7 May 1951 (age 72)
Ponce, Puerto Rico
OriginNew York City, New York, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • vocals
Years active1967–present
Labels
Spouse(s)Robin Clark (m. 1970)

Carlos Alomar (born 7 May 1951) is a Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician.

History

The son of a

Pentecostal minister, Alomar was raised in New York. From the age of ten he taught himself to play the guitar, and started playing professionally at age sixteen. In the 1960s he performed during "Amateur Hour" at the Apollo Theater, eventually joining the house band, backing Chuck Berry and many leading soul artists. Around 1968–69 he toured for eight months in James Brown's live band, eventually quitting after being docked wages for missing a musical cue. In 1969 Alomar formed a group called Listen My Brother with vocalists Luther Vandross, Fonzi Thornton (later to work with Chic and Roxy Music), and Robin Clark. In 1969, the band played several times on Sesame Street, including on the show's pilot.[1] That same summer, Listen My Brother also performed on the final day of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. [2] Alomar and bandmate Clark later wed and had a daughter named Lea.[3]

Alomar subsequently played as a

The Main Ingredient
.

Collaboration with David Bowie

Alomar met David Bowie in early 1974, during sessions for

Young Americans album was recorded during these sessions,[4] and Alomar joined Bowie for the second leg of the Diamond Dogs tour (dubbed "The Philly Dogs Tour") in September–December 1974. In January 1975, Bowie and John Lennon recorded "Across the Universe" at Electric Lady Studios and from this session resulted the impromptu song "Fame", which evolved from the guitar riff Alomar had originated for the song "Foot Stompin'" during the Philly Dogs shows. With writing credit divided between Bowie, Alomar and Lennon (and funky guitar riffs later copied for James Brown's 1975 recording "Hot (I Need to be Loved)"), "Fame" gave Bowie his first US#1 single, and its parent album Young Americans (1975) marked Carlos Alomar's first appearance on a David Bowie album.[5] This began a long period of collaboration in which Alomar led the rhythm section of Alomar/Dennis Davis/George Murray that would underpin Bowie's recordings for the next half-decade, behind a variety of lead guitarists, including Earl Slick, Stacey Heydon, Ricky Gardiner, Robert Fripp, and Adrian Belew.[6]

Alomar played on Bowie's next album,

DJ" with Bowie and Brian Eno. In the Lodger single "Boys Keep Swinging", Alomar swapped instruments with Dennis Davis and played drums. Alomar played guitar on Iggy Pop's two Bowie-produced albums of 1977, The Idiot and Lust For Life,[5] and in 1978, he joined Bowie for the world tour which resulted in the live album Stage
. On this tour, Alomar was again the musical director, swapping his guitar for a baton to conduct the band during the drum-free instrumental pieces from Low and "Heroes".

Dancing With the Big Boys", with Bowie and Iggy Pop. In 1987, Alomar played on Bowie's album Never Let Me Down; the album's title track – released as a single and credited to Bowie/Alomar – was originally an Alomar composition entitled "I'm Tired," before it was re-written by Bowie. Alomar was the musical director/rhythm guitarist for Bowie's infamous and highly theatrical Glass Spider Tour in 1987 (beginning every show with a frenzied guitar solo), but Bowie ended his long-running creative association with Alomar after the critical panning of Never Let Me Down and the Glass Spider tour. The two men would not record together again until January–February 1995, during sessions in New York for Bowie's album Outside (1995). In the meantime, Alomar recorded and released his first solo album, Dream Generator, in 1988 on the Private Music
label.

Alomar toured with Bowie's band for the first leg of the

Everyone Says 'Hi'" (from the album Heathen in 2002) and "Fly" (a bonus track on the limited edition version of the album Reality
in 2003).

Other work

Alomar has performed with a number of other famous bands and musicians including

Gold and Platinum albums. He is currently the director of Boombacker Records. He was the bandleader on the short-lived TV chat show, The Caroline Rhea Show (2002–2003) and is also the president of the New York chapter of The Recording Academy,[7] the organization responsible for the Grammy Awards. In 2005, Alomar joined the teaching staff of Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, New Jersey) as an adjunct professor of Music & Technology, producing several tracks for the inaugural release of the school's Castle Point Records label's Delusions of Grandeur (2006). In 2010 Carlos Alomar was made their first "Distinguished Artist in Residence" and in 2011 he was awarded an honorary Bachelor of Arts.[6]

Alomar collaborated with Scissor Sisters for their second album Ta-Dah, and one track from these recording sessions, "Transistor", which ultimately featured on the second disc of the deluxe edition of the album, featured his wife Robin and daughter Lea on backing vocals. In October 2008, he performed with Richard Barone at Carnegie Hall, as a special guest in Barone's theatrical concert, "FRONTMAN: A Musical Reading". In 2010 Alomar performed as guitarist on Alicia Keys album The Element of Freedom.

Alomar resides in North Bergen, New Jersey.[8]

Selected discography

Solo album

  • Dream Generator (1987)

With ANGIESCREAMS

With Arcadia

With Kenny Barron

With Bee Gees

With David Bowie

With Casiopea

With Brandon Flowers

With Julia Fordham

With FUN

  • PAX (as guitar) (1996)
  • CHAOS (as guitar) (1997)

With Debbie Gibson

With Mick Jagger

With Alicia Keys

With Ben E. King

With Cyndi Lauper

With Paul McCartney

With Jimmy Owens

With Iggy Pop

With Mark Ronson

With Jennifer Rush

With Carly Simon

With Scissor Sisters

With Belouis Some

With Soda Stereo

  • Doble Vida (as producer, guest guitar and rapper) (1988)

Equipment

References

  1. ^ [https://www.popmatters.com/finding-success-before-fame-robin-clark-carlos-alomar-trace-their-uptown-ro-2495467678.html}
  2. ^ [1] Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  3. ^ Carlos Alomar. 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  4. ^ "David Bowie collaborator Carlos Alomar discusses artistic relationship between the pair". NME. 17 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Prato, Greg. "Carlos Alomar: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  6. ^ a b Carlos Alomar. Archived 11 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine Stevens Institute of Technology. College of Arts and Letters. Institute of Music & technology. 2011. Retrieved 13 October 2011.
  7. ^ "GRAMMY.com". Archived from the original on 4 June 2004. Retrieved 22 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. Hudson Reporter
    , 4 November 2010. Accessed 10 April 2016. "Alomar, who now lives in North Bergen, began teaching at Stevens five years ago, but is 'extremely honored' after being named the Distinguished Artist in Residence."

External links

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