Born in 1948 in Kensington, North Philadelphia, Larry’s first instrument was a toy guitar he plucked off the shelf of his parents store – he was six years old at the time - and taught himself how to play. A year later he was handed his first cello by a music teacher at his elementary school. He spent hours each day practicing Bach and Brahms and by the age of 13, Larry had soloed with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1964 Larry wound up in a blues-rock band playing electric bass. For the next few years Larry pursued other alternative musical combinations, but made ends meet playing in the House Band at Philly supper club the Latin Casino, where he backed up the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Sammy Davis Jr. He also played on countless sessions for early Philly R&B acts such as Chubby Checker and Dee Dee Sharp. At the same time, Larry also started to work seriously with three young Philadelphia soul music visionaries: Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who were just coming up with the idea to form the label that would become Philadelphia International Records, and writer/producer/arranger Thom Bell. Throughout the late sixties, seventies, and early eighties, he was a member of the Sound of Philadelphia’s house band, MFSB, playing his cello on almost every record made in Philadelphia, including hits by the O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Bluenotes, Billy Paul, Dusty Springfield, the Spinners, the Stylistics, the Delphonics, Teddy Pendergrass, the Trammps, Patti LaBelle...etc Larry earned his first gold records writing string and horn arrangements for Teddy Pendergrass and McFadden & Whitehead. By the early eighties, the hits were coming less and less frequently, until, finally, nothing. Larry turned his talents to composition. He wrote music for animated films by acclaimed cartoonist Paul Ferlinger – earning an Oscar nomination for the animated short It’s So Nice to Have a Wolf Around the House. Larry and Paul also collaborated on many short films for the children’s television show Sesame Street. He opened a small studio in 1985, with the idea that it would lead him into more production. Soon he had a room in Studio Four (later to become Ruffhouse Records and eventually Jazzy Jeff's A Touch of Jazz studio). Before long, some of the old Philly Soul guys were coming over to visit. Within a few years, Larry was full-time producing, writing, and helping new acts develop, all the while moving from studio to studio. Then in 1996, Larry finally took the plunge. Envisioning a place that would offer state-of-the-art recording acilities, a positive, laid-back vibe, he began construction on The Studio, his own, long-dreamt of space. Meanwhile, he also went back to one of his first loves – writing arrangements. His first shot was out of the park – Brandy and Monica’s hit “The Boy is Mine,” produced by Rodney Jerkins. As the Studio turned into a base for a variety of artists, Larry wrote string arrangements for most of the acts recording there. First, the Roots, began coming around. Next came Erykah Badu, Common, Jill Scott, Musiq, Bilal Jaguar Wright, and the Jazzyfatnastees, as well as many others. Larry’s musical knowledge and talent - along with his hippie ethics and ready ear – have become invaluable to Philadelphia’s new generation of soul stars and hopefuls. Some of the many string arrangements that Larry has done include The Roots' Grammy winning single "You Got Me" (featuring Erykah Badu); and Jennifer Lopez's #1 single "If You had My Love." Larry arranged, conducted, and played cello for Jay-Z’s performance on MTV Unplugged with the Roots. In the last few months, Larry has recently worked on arangements for Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Floetry. Larry has also worked with producers Rodney Jerkins, Jazzy Jeff, Timbaland, Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, Ali Shaheed Mohammed, Cory Rooney, Bob Powers, Carvin Haggins and Ivan Barrias, James Poyser, and ?uestlove. In 2003 he released the BBE record 'Don Cello and Freinds', a compilation album featuring some of his favorite artists from the good old days through today, including Black Thought (and the other members of the Roots), Timbaland, Res, Floetry, Musiq, Glenn Lewis, the Jazzyfatnastees, Carol Riddick, McFadden & Whitehead, and Bunny Sigler

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