Who produced Eddie Palmieri's Grammy-winning album The Sun of Latin Music?

Harvey Averne produced Eddie Palmieri’s Grammy-winning album The Sun of Latin Music.

Released by CoCo Records in 1974, the album featured vocalist Lalo Rodríguez and became a landmark in the development of modern salsa. Averne, a musician, producer and label executive, had founded CoCo Records and helped shape its distinctive New York Latin sound.

The album won the first Grammy awarded in the newly created Best Latin Recording category. The award is commonly dated to 1975, while some discographies emphasize the album’s 1974 release year or list the ceremony-year result differently. That distinction does not change the producer’s identity.

Averne’s contribution extended beyond a credit on the sleeve: accounts of the project describe him as producing and mixing the record. He later produced Palmieri’s Unfinished Masterpiece, which also won a Grammy. Eddie Palmieri himself was the performing bandleader and pianist, but Harvey Averne was the producer asked for here.