Mr. Fingers

Mr. Fingers is the main solo alias of Larry Heard, a musician from Chicago widely hailed as the creator of deep house. He started releasing instrumental singles as Mr. Fingers in 1985, fusing lush synth pads with sparse four-to-the-floor beat patterns, often featuring acid basslines or jazzy keyboards. He also issued song-based material with vocalists Robert Owens and Ron Wilson as Fingers Inc. Heard's most recognizable composition, the life-affirming "Can You Feel It," saw release under both projects, first in 1986 as a Mr. Fingers track and then as a Fingers Inc. single in 1988. Mr. Fingers then released two smooth, R&B-leaning full-lengths, Introduction (1992) and Back to Love (1994), before Heard largely abandoned the alias and released numerous albums under his own name. He revived Mr. Fingers during the 2010s, issuing the expansive Cerebral Hemispheres in 2018 and the two-part Around the Sun in 2022-23.