Larry Gold, producer, superb cellist, and most notably, brilliant arranger, is as much a part of the fabric of the Philly music scene as Leon Huff, Kenny Gamble, Thom Bell, and The Roots. He is revered among his peers as one of the top arrangers in the music business. A music man par excellence. Larry’s always in the mix of popular music and this year is no different. He’s done work with Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak for their superstar soul group, Silk Sonic, on nearly the entire album including the smash hits “Leave The Door Open” and “Smokin Out The Window,” Lizzo, Halsey, Rosalía, The Teskey Brothers, and Paul Stanley.

Back in 2009, John Legend and The Roots began collaborating on a studio album called Wake Up! The socially conscious project — which later won the 2010 Grammy for best R&B album — featured covers of Curtis Mayfield’s “Hard Times,” Marvin Gaye’s “Holy Holy,” and Bill Withers’ poignant protest song against the Vietnam War, “I Can’t Write Left Handed.” Larry Gold arranged the strings on this album.