Eddie Palmieri, the pianist, composer, band leader, and innovator of Latin music, passed away last Wednesday, August 6 at his home in New Jersey. He was 88.
Born in East Harlem to a Puerto Rican immigrant family and raised in the South Bronx, Palmieri was exposed to jazz in the New York City public school system. As a child, he frequently accompanied his brother, Charlie Palmieri, who became a prominent jazz musician also.
As a musical innovator, Eddie Palmieri helped shape the sound of salsa with disparate elements which included jazz, funk, mambo, cha-cha, and rock. His Afro-Cuban style used “complex African rhythmic patterns that are centuries old.” (Eddie Palmieri Biography) His first band, La Perfecta, organized in 1961, altered the sound of Latin dance music with the use of trombones. As a result of the distinct sound, the work of trombonist Barry Rogers, they became known as “the band of crazy roaring elephants.”
The hypnotic groove, rhythmic sophistication, and zesty fusion of Palmieri’s salsa are on display in the following works:
Azúcar (1965)
Vámonos pa’l Monte (1971)
Ay Qué Rico (1968)
Bilongo (Live)
La Malanga (1970)
Recordings
- Eddie Palmieri discography