Harvey Averne

In addition to the New York cabaret and club circuit, he performed with his own band "Arvito & His Latin Rhythms" in the Catskill Mountain Resort Area (also known as the Borscht Belt, or the Jewish Alps), a popular vacation spot for New Yorkers since the 1920s.

Harvey Averne (born 1936, Brooklyn, New York) has been described as "one of several prominent Jewish Americans in New York's bustling Latin music scene."

Harvey Averne is an American record producer, and the founder of CoCo Records, as well as its many subsidiaries.

During the mid 1950s through the 1970s he appeared in hundreds of reviews and shows, at such popular New York venues as the Boulevard Night Club (Queens), The Palladium Ballroom, Lincoln Center, The Village Gate, Jules Podell's Copacabana, Roseland Ballroom, Harlem's Apollo Theater, The Cotton Club, Carnegie Hall, Basin Street East, The Cheetah and The New York Academy Of Music, as well as Chicago's Aragon Ballroom, Coliseo Roberto Clemente in Puerto Rico and the famed Hollywood Palladium.

He found steady work and much inspiration during these years, appearing with such notables as Don Rickles, Tom Jones, Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, James Brown, Jerry Butler, The O'Jays, Richard Pryor, The Main Ingredient, Grover Washington Jr., Al Green, and Frankie Crocker, among others.

He worked there from 1950 through 1963, as well as in Long Island's Lido Beach and Long Beach, a strip which was known for its private beach clubs and hotels.

He brought his fiery dance rhythms into the Malibu Beach Club, Colony Beach Club, The Coral Reef, The Monaco, The Sands and The Shelbourne.

These venues drew thousands of day-tripper/ members who arrived early to enjoy their cabanas, beaches, pools and tennis courts.

Later in the evening, the patrons would dress up elegantly for dinner in the restaurants and take in star-studded shows in the nightclubs.

The aforementioned clubs offered such big-name performers as Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Jackie Mason, Mal Z. Lawrence, Al Martino, Buddy Hackett, Hines, Hines and Dad; as well as the popular Latin bands of Tito Puente, Machito, Tito Rodriguez, Eddie Palmieri, Larry Harlow, Joe Cuba, La Playa Sextet and of course Arvito & His Latin Rhythms.

All of these stars performed regularly at both the beach clubs and the Catskill resort hotels.

Curiously, it was amidst all of this showbiz glitz that Harvey's love for Latin American music and culture further manifested itself.

A prolific songwriter in his own right (over fifty of his songs have been recorded), Averne wrote most of the material for his newly formed group "The Harvey Averne Dozen".

Their album "Viva Soul", for Atlantic Records included the top selling hit "My Dream" as well as the often recorded and sampled "You're No Good", both of which are Averne-Sheller compositions.

A second album for the Fania label, the self-titled "Harvey Averne Dozen" included Averne compositions "Accept Me", "Can You Dig It" and the international dance hit "Never Learned to Dance".

It also included the movie theme "Lullaby from Rosemary's Baby" (Harvey's recording was subsequently sampled by Big Daddy Kane on his track "Rest In Peace").

In 1969 he produced, directed and mixed "The Queen Does Her Own Thing" for the extremely popular Cuban artist La Lupe.

The album was released on Roulette/Tico Records and included the hit single "Se Acabo" (Once We Loved).

In addition, he produced and mixed "The Harvey Averne Barrio Band" and "Toro" albums, for Heavy Duty/Fania Records.

During his tenure at Fania he either produced or supervised recordings by Ray Barretto, Willie Colon, Orquesta Harlow, Hector Lavoe, Ismael Miranda, Bobby Valentin, Mongo Santamaria, Johnny Pacheco, Roberto Roena, Joe Bataan, Ralfi Pagan, The Latineers and George Guzman, among others.

While maintaining a managerial position as vice president, Averne was still signed to the label as a recording artist and producer (a rarity back then), and freelanced on various productions for Scepter/Wand, Heavy Duty, Uptite and Atlantic Records as well.

He was later named Executive Vice President of Fania's new subsidiary Vaya Records.

At Vaya he worked closely with such artists as Celia Cruz, Cheo Feliciano, Ricardo Ray and Bobby Cruz, Bobby Rodriguez y La Compañia and Markolino Diamond (which featured Angel Canales's singing debut).

He changed the name of the group to "The Harvey Averne Band" for the Fania release "Brotherhood" (1970).

This album included various Latin crossover hits such as "Lovers", "Come Back Baby", "Come On And Do Me" and the pop hit "Central Park".

Around this time he began reinvesting his songwriting success into producing, and after years of hard work as a musician he was able to make the transition.

In addition to his involvement with the Fania label, Averne had other equally important projects that were also well received.

Established in 1972, CoCo was a label specializing in Afro-Cuban and Latin American Popular music, with special emphasis on the "New York Sound", commonly referred to as "Salsa".

Averne's gift for identifying and bringing together new and established musical talent, along with the careful management of his artists' public image, initially made CoCo Records a major label nationally, and subsequently an international success.

Over the next decade, he signed internationally known artists and was instrumental in bringing Latin American music into the American cultural mainstream.

In 1972 Averne signed the iconic artist Eddie Palmieri to his label, producing and mixing two of Palmieri's groundbreaking albums; "Sentido" and "Sun Of Latin Music".

These recordings were considered radical departures from the type of dance oriented music that had prevailed during the previous two decades.

The latter album earned Palmieri, Averne and CoCo the first Grammy ever awarded to an artist in the newly created "Latin Music" category (1975).

The following year (1976), Averne produced and mixed a third Eddie Palmieri album ("Unfinished Masterpiece"), which also won the coveted Grammy award.

In addition, he achieved major successes in 1977 with two Grammy nominations for his productions of the Danny Rivera and Eydie Gorme hit "Para Decir Adios" (from the album "Muy Amigos") and The Machito Orchestra with Lalo Rodriguez ("Fireworks").

Both albums were included among the final five nominees.

In subsequent years, various artists who were signed to the CoCo family of labels also won numerous awards and nominations.

The list includes such notables as Lissette Alvarez, Wilkins, Mario Bauza and Graciela, Yolandita Monge, Steve Lawrence, Trini Lopez, Rafael Cortijo, Ismael Rivera, Jose Fajardo, Charlie Palmieri, Joe Quijano and Orquesta Broadway, among others.

The diversity of the CoCo catalogue actually brought a wider awareness of traditional Latin music to a new generation.

By the time Averne was fourteen he was a professional musician.