Carlos Alomar
Encyclopedia
Carlos Alomar is an American guitarist
, composer and arranger best known for his work with David Bowie
, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician. He has also performed with Duran Duran
and with Duran Duran
's side project, Arcadia
off the album, So Red the Rose
.
, eventually joining the house band, backing Chuck Berry
and many leading soul
artists. Circa 1968-9 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
. Alomar and Clark later wed and had a daughter named Lea.
Alomar subsequently played as a session musician
for RCA
Recording Studios, and others including Ben E. King
("Supernatural Thing", 1975) and Joe Simon
("Drowning in the Sea of Love"). He also met drummer Dennis Davis
while they were both playing with jazz artist Roy Ayers
. Alomar then toured with the band The Main Ingredient.
’s recording of the Bowie-penned song "Can You Hear Me?". Bowie was keen for Alomar to join his band for the Diamond Dogs
tour, but negotiations with Bowie's management stalled and Alomar stayed with The Main Ingredient. During a six-week break from his tour in mid-1974, Bowie recorded a series of songs for a new album in Sigma Sound Studios
with Alomar, who brought in Vandross, Clark, Davis, and bassist Emir Kassan to contribute to the recordings as well. Most of the material for the Young Americans
album was recorded during these sessions, 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 "Footstompin'" 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. 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
.
Alomar played on Bowie's next album, Station to Station
(1976), designing the classic riffs which opened the songs "Golden Years
" and "Stay
", and touring with Bowie for the Station To Station tour of 1976. This was Alomar’s first Bowie tour as musical director; around this time, Alomar, Bowie, and Iggy Pop
wrote the song "Sister Midnight"; originally performed by Bowie during the 1976 tour, it was later recorded by Bowie and Iggy as the opening track on Iggy’s album The Idiot
(1977) before being re-written by Bowie as "Red Money
" for his album Lodger
(1979). Alomar played on Bowie’s groundbreaking "Berlin Trilogy" of albums—Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger; he also co-wrote the Heroes track "The Secret Life of Arabia
" and the Lodger track "DJ
" with Bowie and Brian Eno
. Of note is the Lodger single "Boys Keep Swinging
", on which 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
, and in 1978, he joined Bowie for the world tour which resulted in the live album Stage.
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
(1980) marked the last time Alomar would play alongside George Murray and Dennis Davis on a Bowie album; a planned Scary Monsters tour was aborted and Alomar instead joined Iggy Pop's band for a series of shows in October–December 1981 (the show from San Francisco on 25 November has been released on VHS and DVD). Alomar did not play on Bowie’s album Let's Dance (1983) – the role of rhythm guitarist was undertaken by that album’s co-producer, Nile Rodgers
– but he re-joined Bowie as rhythm guitarist and musical director for the mammoth Serious Moonlight world tour in 1983. In 1984, Alomar played on Bowie’s album Tonight; he also co-wrote the album’s closing track, "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 1.Outside (1995). In the meantime, Alomar recorded and released his first solo album, Dream Generator, in 1988.
Alomar toured with Bowie’s band for the first leg of the Outside Tour (September 1995-February 1996). The tour was not a pleasant experience for Alomar (who found Bowie inaccessible and didn’t get along with musical director Peter Schwartz) and he did not re-join Bowie when the tour resumed in September 1996. However, Alomar later played guitar on the Bowie tracks "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).
, Mick Jagger
, Iggy Pop
, The Pretenders for their album Get Close
in 1986, and Argentine
rock band Soda Stereo
. In all, Alomar has played on a total of 32 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, 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 Bachelors of Arts.
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 Weehawken, New Jersey.
Iggy Pop
Arcadia
Mick Jagger
Paul McCartney
Casiopea
Soda Stereo
FUN
ANGIESCREAMS
Solo albums
Videos
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, composer and arranger best known for his work with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician. He has also performed with Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
and with Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
's side project, Arcadia
Arcadia (band)
Arcadia were the pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, during a break in that band's schedule. However, Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and in none of the music videos, and stated he was only to be involved in the recording side...
off the album, So Red the Rose
So Red the Rose
So Red the Rose is the platinum-selling album by the Duran Duran-spinoff group Arcadia, which was released in 1985 — the only album the band ever released...
.
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 TheaterApollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
, eventually joining the house band, backing Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
and many leading soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
artists. Circa 1968-9 he toured for eight months in James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
'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
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
, Fonzi Thornton (later to work with Chic
Chic (band)
Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...
and Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
), and Robin Clark
Robin Clark
Robin Clark is an American vocalist best known for her 1985 work with UK band Simple Minds in Once Upon A Time album and tour. She has also performed vocals on numerous other tours and albums, including work with David Bowie and Luther Vandross amongst others...
. Alomar and Clark later wed and had a daughter named Lea.
Alomar subsequently played as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
for RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
Recording Studios, and others including Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
("Supernatural Thing", 1975) and Joe Simon
Joe Simon (musician)
Joe Simon is an American chart-topping, Grammy Award winning, soul and R&B musician. Amongst other chart singles, Simon secured three number one hits on the US Billboard R&B chart between 1969 and 1975.-Career:...
("Drowning in the Sea of Love"). He also met drummer Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie.He was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City and studied with the late drummers Max Roach and Elvin Jones. He met guitarist Carlos Alomar when they were both playing with Roy Ayers...
while they were both playing with jazz artist Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers
Roy Ayers is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer and vibraphone player. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Polydor Records beginning in the 1970s, during which he helped pioneer jazz-funk .- Biography :Ayers...
. Alomar then toured with the band The Main Ingredient.
David Bowie
Alomar met David Bowie in early 1974, during sessions for LuluLulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
’s recording of the Bowie-penned song "Can You Hear Me?". Bowie was keen for Alomar to join his band for the Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs
Diamond Dogs is a concept album by David Bowie, originally released by RCA Records in 1974. Thematically it was a marriage of the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Bowie's own glam-tinged vision of a post-apocalyptic world...
tour, but negotiations with Bowie's management stalled and Alomar stayed with The Main Ingredient. During a six-week break from his tour in mid-1974, Bowie recorded a series of songs for a new album in Sigma Sound Studios
Sigma Sound Studios
Sigma Sound Studios is an American music recording studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania founded by recording engineer Joseph Tarsia in 1968.Located at 212 N. 12th Street in Philadelphia, it was the second studio in the country to offer 24-track recording and the first in the country to use console...
with Alomar, who brought in Vandross, Clark, Davis, and bassist Emir Kassan to contribute to the recordings as well. Most of the material for the Young Americans
Young Americans (album)
Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...
album was recorded during these sessions, 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
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
recorded "Across the Universe
Across the Universe
"Across the Universe" is a song by the English group The Beatles. It was written by John Lennon, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the various artists charity compilation album No One's Gonna Change Our World in December 1969, and later, in different form, on Let It Be,...
" at Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
and from this session resulted the impromptu song "Fame
Fame (David Bowie song)
"Fame" is a song recorded by David Bowie, initially released in 1975. It reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the week of September 20, 1975.-Song development:...
"—which evolved from the guitar riff Alomar had originated for the song "Footstompin'" 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. This began a long period of collaboration in which Alomar led the rhythm section
Rhythm section
A rhythm section is a collection of musicians who make up a section of instruments which provides the accompaniment section of the music, giving the music its rhythmic texture and pulse, also serving as a rhythmic reference for the rest of the band...
of Alomar/Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis
Dennis Davis is an American drummer and session musician best known for his work with David Bowie.He was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City and studied with the late drummers Max Roach and Elvin Jones. He met guitarist Carlos Alomar when they were both playing with Roy Ayers...
/George Murray
George Murray (musician)
George Murray is an American bass guitarist best known for his work with David Bowie as a part of his regular ensemble , on a number of Bowie's albums released in the 1970s.-Selective Discography:Weldon Irvine...
that would underpin Bowie's recordings for the next half-decade, behind a variety of lead guitarists, including Earl Slick
Earl Slick
Earl Slick is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, Jim Diamond and Robert Smith, although he has also worked with other artists , John Waite, and even released some solo recordings.In the early 1970s, Earl Slick gained his...
, Stacey Heydon, Ricky Gardiner
Ricky Gardiner
Ricky Gardiner is a guitarist and composer.He has played in his own outfit, Beggars Opera, and also with David Bowie and Iggy Pop. For Bowie he played lead guitar on the 1977 album Low. He worked with Pop on Lust for Life the same year. The album included "The Passenger", regarded as one of Pop's...
, Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
, and Adrian Belew
Adrian Belew
Adrian Belew is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer...
.
Alomar played on Bowie's next album, Station to Station
Station to Station
Station to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station is also notable as the vehicle for Bowie's last great 'character', The Thin White Duke...
(1976), designing the classic riffs which opened the songs "Golden Years
Golden Years (song)
An updated single for "Golden Years" was released in 2011 to coincide with the re-release of Station to Station. 4 new remixes were provided by DJs from radio station KCRW in California.-Track listing:# "Golden Years " - 3:27...
" and "Stay
Stay (David Bowie song)
"Stay" is a song written by David Bowie for the 1976 album Station to Station.In July 1976 it was released as a single by RCA in the US. The length of the album version of "Stay" is 6:15....
", and touring with Bowie for the Station To Station tour of 1976. This was Alomar’s first Bowie tour as musical director; around this time, Alomar, Bowie, and Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
wrote the song "Sister Midnight"; originally performed by Bowie during the 1976 tour, it was later recorded by Bowie and Iggy as the opening track on Iggy’s album The Idiot
The Idiot (album)
The Idiot is the debut solo album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was the first of two LPs released in 1977 which Pop wrote and recorded in collaboration with David Bowie...
(1977) before being re-written by Bowie as "Red Money
Red Money
"Red Money" is a song written by David Bowie and Carlos Alomar. The song had originally appeared on The Idiot as "Sister Midnight" with lyrics by Iggy Pop...
" for his album Lodger
Lodger (album)
Lodger is an album by British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 1979. The last of the 'Berlin Trilogy' recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno , it was more accessible than its immediate predecessors Low and "Heroes", having no instrumentals and being somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented...
(1979). Alomar played on Bowie’s groundbreaking "Berlin Trilogy" of albums—Low (1977), "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger; he also co-wrote the Heroes track "The Secret Life of Arabia
The Secret Life of Arabia
"The Secret Life of Arabia" is a song written by David Bowie, Brian Eno and Carlos Alomar in 1977 for the album "Heroes". It was the final track on the original vinyl album, following the instrumental "Neuköln"...
" and the Lodger track "DJ
DJ (song)
"DJ" was a single by David Bowie. It was taken from the album Lodger in the UK, being released on June 29, 1979.A cynical comment on the cult of the DJ, the track is noted for Adrian Belew's guitar solo, which was recorded in multiple takes, and then mixed back together for the album track...
" with Bowie and Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
. Of note is the Lodger single "Boys Keep Swinging
Boys Keep Swinging
"Boys Keep Swinging" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released as a single from the album Lodger on 27 April 1979.-Recording and release:...
", on which 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
Lust for Life (album)
Lust for Life is a 1977 album by Iggy Pop, his second solo release and his second collaboration with David Bowie, following The Idiot earlier in the year. As well as achieving critical success, it was Pop's most commercially popular album to date, and remains his highest-charting release in the UK...
, and in 1978, he joined Bowie for the world tour which resulted in the live album Stage.
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger . Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less...
(1980) marked the last time Alomar would play alongside George Murray and Dennis Davis on a Bowie album; a planned Scary Monsters tour was aborted and Alomar instead joined Iggy Pop's band for a series of shows in October–December 1981 (the show from San Francisco on 25 November has been released on VHS and DVD). Alomar did not play on Bowie’s album Let's Dance (1983) – the role of rhythm guitarist was undertaken by that album’s co-producer, Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
– but he re-joined Bowie as rhythm guitarist and musical director for the mammoth Serious Moonlight world tour in 1983. In 1984, Alomar played on Bowie’s album Tonight; he also co-wrote the album’s closing track, "Dancing With the Big Boys", with Bowie and Iggy Pop. In 1987, Alomar played on Bowie’s album Never Let Me Down
Never Let Me Down
Never Let Me Down is an album by David Bowie, released in April 1987. Written over a 3-month period and recorded in Switzerland, Bowie regarded the album at the time as a "move back to rock 'n roll music...
; the album’s title track
Never Let Me Down (song)
"Never Let Me Down" is the title track on David Bowie's album Never Let Me Down. It was issued as the third single from the album in August 1987 – it would be Bowie's last solo single until 1992's "Real Cool World", barring a remix of "Fame"....
– 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 1.Outside (1995). In the meantime, Alomar recorded and released his first solo album, Dream Generator, in 1988.
Alomar toured with Bowie’s band for the first leg of the Outside Tour (September 1995-February 1996). The tour was not a pleasant experience for Alomar (who found Bowie inaccessible and didn’t get along with musical director Peter Schwartz) and he did not re-join Bowie when the tour resumed in September 1996. However, Alomar later played guitar on the Bowie tracks "Everyone Says 'Hi'
Everyone Says 'Hi'
"Everyone Says 'Hi" is a song written by David Bowie for the album Heathen , the only single from the album that was available to purchase in the United Kingdom. The single reached #20 in the UK singles chart. It was produced by British duo Brian Rawling and Gary Miller, with vocals produced by...
" (from the album Heathen in 2002) and "Fly" (a bonus track on the limited edition version of the album Reality in 2003).
After Bowie
Alomar has performed with a number of other famous musicians including Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
, Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
, The Pretenders for their album Get Close
Get Close
Get Close is the fourth album by rock group The Pretenders, released in 1986. Officially, the band for this album now consisted of Chrissie Hynde , Robbie McIntosh , T.M. Stevens and Blair Cunningham ; however, this line-up played on only five of the album's eleven tracks...
in 1986, and Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
rock band Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
. In all, Alomar has played on a total of 32 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
The Caroline Rhea Show
The Caroline Rhea Show is an American syndicated variety/talk show that was regarded as the successor to The Rosie O'Donnell Show. It premiered in September 2002 and ran until June 2003 and was hosted by actress and comedienne Caroline Rhea, who was hand-picked by Rosie O'Donnell as her...
(2002–2003) and is also the president of the New York chapter of The Recording Academy, the organization responsible for the Grammy Awards. In 2005, Alomar joined the teaching staff of Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stevens Institute of Technology is a technological university located on a campus in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA – founded in 1870 with an 1868 bequest from Edwin A. Stevens. It is known for its engineering, science, and technological management curricula.The institute has produced leading...
(Hoboken
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
) 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 Bachelors of Arts.
Alomar collaborated with Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
for their second album Ta-Dah
Ta-Dah
* *The UK Edition of the album has a pregap, consisting of two minutes of silence after "Everybody Wants the Same Thing". Subsequently, what seems to be the sound of an elevator reaching its destination floor is heard as an 8-second interlude at the end of the pregap...
, 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
Richard Barone
Richard Barone is a rock musician born in Tampa, Florida who gained attention as frontman for The Bongos. He works as a songwriter, arranger, author, director, and producer, releases albums as a solo artist, tours, and has created major concert events at Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl and New York's...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, as a special guest in Barone's theatrical concert, "FRONTMAN: A Musical Reading". In 2010 Alomar performed as guitarist on Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...
album "The Element of Freedom".
Alomar resides in Weehawken, New Jersey.
Selected discography
David Bowie- Young AmericansYoung Americans (album)Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...
(1975) - Station to StationStation to StationStation to Station is the tenth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1976. Commonly regarded as one of his most significant works, Station to Station is also notable as the vehicle for Bowie's last great 'character', The Thin White Duke...
(1976) - Low (1977)
- "Heroes" (1977)
- Stage (1978)
- LodgerLodger (album)Lodger is an album by British singer-songwriter David Bowie, released in 1979. The last of the 'Berlin Trilogy' recorded in collaboration with Brian Eno , it was more accessible than its immediate predecessors Low and "Heroes", having no instrumentals and being somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented...
(1979) - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)Scary Monsters is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger . Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less...
(1980) - Tonight (1984)
- Never Let Me DownNever Let Me DownNever Let Me Down is an album by David Bowie, released in April 1987. Written over a 3-month period and recorded in Switzerland, Bowie regarded the album at the time as a "move back to rock 'n roll music...
(1987) - Outside (1995)
- Heathen (2002)
- Reality (2003)
Iggy Pop
- The IdiotThe Idiot (album)The Idiot is the debut solo album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was the first of two LPs released in 1977 which Pop wrote and recorded in collaboration with David Bowie...
(1977) - Lust for LifeLust for Life (album)Lust for Life is a 1977 album by Iggy Pop, his second solo release and his second collaboration with David Bowie, following The Idiot earlier in the year. As well as achieving critical success, it was Pop's most commercially popular album to date, and remains his highest-charting release in the UK...
(1977)
Arcadia
- So Red the RoseSo Red the RoseSo Red the Rose is the platinum-selling album by the Duran Duran-spinoff group Arcadia, which was released in 1985 — the only album the band ever released...
(1985)
Mick Jagger
- She's the BossShe's the BossShe's the Boss is the solo album debut by The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger released in 1985. When the Stones signed with CBS Records in 1983, one of the options available to them was for individual projects, and Jagger—ready to spread his wings after recording exclusively with the famous...
(1985)
Paul McCartney
- Press to PlayPress to Play-Personnel:* Paul McCartney – bass, acoustic and electric guitars, lead vocals* Neil Jason – bass* Eric Stewart – acoustic and electric guitars* Pete Townshend – electric guitars* Carlos Alomar – acoustic and electric guitars* Eddie Rayner – keyboards...
(1986)
Casiopea
- Sun,Sun (1986)
Soda Stereo
- Doble VidaDoble VidaDoble Vida is the fourth album recorded by Argentine rock band Soda Stereo and was released in 1988. It was remastered in 2007 at Sterling Sound Studios in New York.-Track listing:...
(as producer, guest guitar and rapper) (1988)
FUN
- PAXPax (album)Pax is an album by American jazz pianist Andrew Hill featuring performances recorded in 1965 but not released on the Blue Note label until 1975 as part of a compilation album One for One...
(as guitar) (1996) - CHAOS (as guitar) (1997)
ANGIESCREAMS
- The Revelation of Arthur Lynn (as producer) (2010)
Solo albums
- Dream Generator (1987)
Videos
- David Bowie: Serious Moonlight
- David Bowie: Glass Spider
- Iggy Pop: Live San Fran 1981
- Soda Stereo: Gira Me Veras Volver
Equipment
Effects:- Mu-tron Bi-Phase
- Space echo
- AlembicAlembic IncAlembic was founded in 1969 and is a manufacturer of high-end electric basses, guitars and preamps.-History:Ron and Susan Wickersham founded Alembic, Inc. in 1969...
Guitar (Maverick)
External links
- Carlos Alomar biography at VH-1
- Carlos Alomar biography at NNDB
- Carlos Alomar Q&A