Larry Dunn (born Lorenzo Russell Dunn; June 19, 1953) is an American keyboardist, producer, songwriter and musical director, known as one of the original members of the music group

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

. Dunn was inducted, as a former band member, into the

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work represent and maintain the heri ...

and the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Dunn has received the

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award, 7

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, 4

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...

and a

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achiev ...

. Dunn is a co-composer of EWF's " Shining Star", a song that's been inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

. As a record producer, Dunn is best known for his work with

Lenny White Leonard White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". White has won thre ...

Caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

Level 42 Level 42 are an English jazz-funk band formed on the Isle of Wight in 1979. They had a number of UK and worldwide hits during the 1980s and 1990s. Their highest-charting single in the UK was " Lessons in Love", which reached number three on th ...

Twennynine Twennynine, also known as Twennynine with Lenny White, was an American R&B band founded in 1979. Overview Twennynine was founded by jazz fusion drummer Lenny White in 1979 after he left Return to Forever. White formed the band to explore commer ...

, Ronnie Laws,

Raphael Saadiq Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to prominence as a vocalist and bassist for the R&B band Tony! Toni! Toné!, which he formed with h ...

The Emotions The Emotions are an American soul/ R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time. Hist ...

Dee Dee Bridgewater Dee Dee Bridgewater (née Denise Garrett, May 27, 1950) is an American jazz singer and actress. She is a three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, as well as a Tony Award-winning stage actress. For 23 years, she was the host of National ...

and

Brian Culbertson Brian Culbertson (born January 12, 1973) is an American smooth jazz/ R&B/funk musician and producer. His instruments include the synthesizer, piano and trombone. Early life and career Culbertson was born in Decatur, Illinois. As a child, he wa ...

Career

Earth, Wind & Fire

Born as Lorenzo Dunn to an Italian mother and African American father, he early on became fond of music and later attended East High School in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. During 1972, while in Los Angeles, Dunn joined a new band led and founded by a Chicago musician known as

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey. ...

by the name of

. As a keyboardist Dunn played with the legendary band for the next 11 years until his departure in 1983. Dunn went on to make a guest appearance on EWF's 2013 album '' Now, Then & Forever''.

Production

Dunn produced

on their 1977 album '' Sky Islands''. ''Sky Islands'' rose to No. 18 on the Cashbox Top Jazz Albums chart. He then co-produced

' 1977 studio LP '' Tequila Mockingbird''. ''Tequila Mockingbird'' peaked at No. 6 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top Jazz Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. He again produced Caldera on the group's 1978 album Time and Chance. Dunn later produced

on his 1978 album ''

Streamline Streamline may refer to: Business * Streamline Air, American regional airline * Adobe Streamline, a discontinued line tracing program made by Adobe Systems * Streamline Cars, the company responsible for making the Burney car Engineering ...

''. ''Streamline'' reached No. 27 on the ''

chart. Along with White he co-produced

's 1979 LP '' Best of Friends''. That album reached number 15 on the

Top R&B Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart. Together with Lenny White he again co-produced the group's 1980 album entitled '' Twennynine with Lenny White''. That LP reached No. 22 on the

chart. Dunn went on to produce Ramsey Lewis on his 1980 album '' Routes''. Routes reached No. 7 on the ''

chart. He later produced

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophone, tenor saxophonist and record producer. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note Reco ...

's 1981 LP '' Tender Togetherness''. That album got to No. 13 on the ''

'' Jazz Albums chart. He then co-produced, along with EWF's

Verdine White Verdine Adams White (born Verdine Adams Jr.; July 25, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member and bassist for the band Earth, Wind & Fire. White was placed at No. 19 on Rolling Stone's list oThe 50 Greatest Bassists of Al ...

's 1983 album '' Standing in the Light''. ''Standing in the Light'' was certified Gold in the UK by the BPI.

Guest appearances

Dunn performed as a keyboardist on

' 1976 album ''

Flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

,''

Deniece Williams June Deniece Williams (née Chandler; born June 3, 1950) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great Soul music, soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free (Deniece Williams song), Free", "Silly (song ...

' 1977 album '' Song Bird'',

's 1977 LP '' Just Family'' and Ronnie Laws' 1977 album '' Friends & Strangers.'' He also performed on the Emotions' 1977 album '' Rejoice'', the Pockets's 1978 LP '' Take It On Up'', Caldera's 1978 album '' Time and Chance'', and

's 1978 album The Adventures of Astral Pirates. Dunn went on to play the keyboards on Ronnie Laws 1978 LP ''

Flame A flame () is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction made in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density, they are then considered plasm ...

'',

Hubert Laws Hubert Laws (born November 10, 1939) is an American flutist, piccoloist and saxophonist with a career spanning over 50 years in jazz, classical, and other music genres. Laws is one of the few classical artists who has also mastered jazz, pop ...

1979 LP Land of Passion and Dee Dee Bridgewater's 1979 album '' Bad for Me''. He then played on Ronnie Laws' 1980 LP '' Every Generation'' and his 1981 album '' Solid Ground''. Dunn then performed on Ronnie Laws' 1983 album '' Mr. Nice Guy'' and

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American singer and actress. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), '' Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a ...

's 1983 LP '' Feel My Soul''. Dunn later featured on

Morris Day Morris E. Day (born December 13, 1957) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of The Time. Music career Morris Day is best known as the lead singer of The Time, a group associated with Prince. Day and Pr ...

's 1985 album '' Color of Success'' and Ronnie Laws 1986 LP ''Mirror Town''. He then appeared on Ramsey Lewis 1987 album '' Keys to the City'' and Ronnie Laws' 1989 LP '' True Spirit''. Dunn later composed on Ronnie Laws' 1991 album

Identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), an ...

and his 1992 LP '' Deep Soul''. Dunn also worked as an arranger on Laws' 1995 album ''Brotherhood''. He then played on Dean James 1997 LP ''Intimacy'' and Reel Tight's 1999 album '' Back to the Real''. Dunn also appeared on Ronnie Laws' 2000 LP ''Dream a Little'' and his 2004 album ''Everlasting''. Dunn later performed on

's 2008 album '' Bringing Back The Funk'',

's 2010 LP '' Stone Rollin''' and Culbertson's 2014 album Another Long Night Out.

Discography

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

, - , 1976 , , '' Shining Star'' Dunn Grammy Awards"

. Retrieved 2025-06-19" , rowspan="2", Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus , , - , rowspan="2", 1977 , , ''

Gratitude Gratitude, thankfulness, or gratefulness is a feeling of appreciation (or similar positive response) by a recipient of another's kindness. This kindness can be gifts, help, favors, or another form of generosity to another person. The word come ...

'' , , - , , ''Can't Hide Love'' , Best Arrangement For Voices , , - , rowspan="3", 1979 , , ''

All 'N All ''All 'n All'' is the eighth studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1977 by Columbia Records. The album peaked at No. 1 on the US Billboard (magazine), BillboardTop R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and No. 3 on the Bil ...

'' , Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus , , - , , ''Runnin'' , Best R&B Instrumental Performance , , - , ''Got To Get You Into My Life'' , Best Pop Vocal Group , , - , rowspan="4", 1980 , '' After The Love Has Gone'' , Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus , , - , rowspan="2", '' Boogie Wonderland'' , Best R&B Instrumental Performance , , - , Best Disco Recording , , - , '' After The Love Has Gone'' ,

Record Of The Year The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without re ...

, , - , 1982 , '' Let’s Groove'' , rowspan="3", Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group , , - , 1983 , '' Wanna Be With You'' , , - , 1984 , '' Fall In Love With Me'' ,

References

External links

Official Website
*
Larry Dunn
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

.
Interview with Larry Dunn
NAMM Oral History Library (2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Larry American male organists African-American pianists American session musicians Grammy Award winners Living people 1953 births Musicians from Denver Earth, Wind & Fire members 21st-century American organists 21st-century American keyboardists 20th-century American keyboardists East High School (Denver, Colorado) alumni