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Eddie Palmieri
Known as one of the finest pianists of the past 60 years, Eddie Palmieri is a bandleader, arranger and composer of salsa and Latin jazz. His playing skillfully fuses the rhythm of his Puerto Rican heritage with the complexity of his jazz influences: Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner as well as his older brother, Charlie Palmieri.
Palmieri’s parents emigrated from Ponce, Puerto Rico to New York City in 1926. Born in Spanish Harlem and raised in the Bronx, Palmieri learned to play the piano at an early age, and at 13, he joined his uncle’s orchestra, playing timbales.
Palmieri’s professional career as a pianist took off with various bands in the early 1950s including Eddie Forrester, Johnny Segui’s, and the popular Tito Rodriguez Orchestra. In 1961, Palmieri formed his own band, La Perfecta, which featured an unconventional front line of trombones rather than the trumpets customary in Latin orchestras. This created an innovative sound that mixed American jazz into Afro-Caribbean rhythms, surprising critics and fans alike. Palmieri disbanded La Perfecta in 1968 to pursue different musical endeavors, though he would return to the band’s music in the 2000s.
Palmieri perfected his arranging skills in the 1970’s releasing several impressive recordings that reflected his unorthodox approach to music. His unconventional style would once again surprise critics and fans with the 1970 release entitled “Harlem River Drive.” This recording was the first to merge what were categorized as “Black” and “Latin” music into a free-form sound that encompassed elements of salsa, funk, soul and jazz. In 1975, Palmieri won the first-ever Grammy for Best Latin Recording for The Sun of Latin Music (he’s won ten Grammys altogether to date), including two for his influential recording with Tito Puente, Obra Maestra/Masterpiece.
Recognizing Palmieri as an American icon, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, recorded two of Palmieri’s performances for its archives in 1988. Because of Palmieri’s proclivity for creating music in funk Latin style, Little Louie Vega invited him to record on Nuyorican Soul (1997), a release that became very popular in the house and underground music scenes.
In addition to the Grammys, Palmieri has received numerous honors: Eubie Blake Award (1991); Most Exciting Latin Performance, presented by the BBC in London (2002); Yale University’s Chubb Fellowship, usually reserved for international heads of state, but given to Palmieri in recognition of his work building communities through music (2002); Harlem Renaissance Award (2005); Jay McShann Lifetime Achievement Award (2008), induction into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame (2008). A year later, the Library of Congress added Palmieri’s composition “Azucar Pa’ Ti” to the National Recording Registry, which at the time only included 300 compositions documenting the history of all of recorded music history in the U.S. With his widely popular eight-and-a-half minute “Azucar Pa’ Ti” Palmieri changed the format of the recording industry, breaking the three-and-a-half minute barrier imposed by the recording industry.
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October Blue Note 50th's, Eddie Palmieri and More
by Marc Cohn
Blue Note 50th anniversary salutes from October 1969 by guitarist Grant Green, Reuben Wilson, Lee Morgan, Duke Pearson with Airto and Bobby Hutcherson with voices. We also feature tracks from La Perfecta II by Eddie Palmieri, who performed in Baton Rouge earlier this week. Along the way: vocalist Aimee Allen, Eddie Harris (from his first date with legendary guitarist Joe Diorio), Thelonious Monk solo and a groove out the door with Chicago's Soul Message Band. Enjoy the show!
read moreEddie Palmieri: Sabiduria/Wisdom
by James Nadal
In celebration of his eightieth birthday, and sixty years as a professional musician, pianist Eddie Palmieri presents Sabiduria/Wisdom, a prodigious testament to his avowed spirit of investigation, and amazing zest for life. Throughout his illustrious recording career, Palmieri has expanded upon the complexities of Afro-Caribbean rhythms, combining them with the serious elements in the melodic and harmonic structures of jazz, to come up with what he refers to as dance music. With his renowned trademark percussive attack on the piano, ...
read moreThe Brian Lynch / Eddie Palmieri Project: Simpatico
by Russ Musto
Brian Lynch is one of the most proficient “bilingual" artists in music--equally adept in both jazz and Latin genres. On this superb collaboration with piano giant Eddie Palmieri, the virtuoso trumpeter brings together his wealth of experience in both fields in a scintillating synthesis that is intelligent, exciting and truly personal. Lynch's understanding of Palmieri's unique brand of salsa con jazz sensibility is accurately described by the date's title, and the music here is the product of a truly sympathetic ...
read moreBrian Lynch / Eddie Palmieri Project: Simpatico
by Chris May
In a world which seems increasingly to be defined by racial and cultural sectarianism, it's always heartening to come across an artist who chooses to express himself in a non-native context--particularly when he does so with the poise that trumpeter Brian Lynch brings to Simpatico.
The album pairs Lynch with his frequent employer, Latin music piano legend Eddie Palmieri, who plays on seven of the nine tracks and who wrote or co-wrote five of them. The music is a caliente ...
read moreBrian Lynch / Eddie Palmieri Project: Simpatico
by Norman Weinstein
Two decades of working as a highly accomplished trumpeter in Eddie Palmieri's Latin jazz band has culminated for Brian Lynch with this completely ravishing recording alongside his musical mentor. While the name of the group might raise the question of “who's on first?", rest assured that this is an inspired collaboration with the less-celebrated Lynch firmly at the helm. Most of the tunes are his, and the versions of Palmieri's pieces are marked by Lynch's hand. In fact, this album ...
read moreEddie Palmieri: Listen Here!
by Jim Santella
The big band sound of Eddie Palmieri's powerful ensemble leaves no doubt: Latin jazz has the capacity to excite, to thrill, and to interpret good music all night long.
Featured solo voices include trumpeter Bryan Lynch, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, trombonist Conrad Herwig, and pianist Palmieri. His musical guests give Listen Here! an added force that drives the message home. Your heart won't slow down until the CD has finished and someone has turned out the lights. Palmieri's ...
read moreEddie Palmieri
by Elliott Simon
Thelonious Monk once said, “Jazz is New York. You can feel it in the air." This is an observation that can be easily recast to produce another truism: “Salsa is New York. You can feel it in the streets." Both musics are integral to NYC culture and come together no more eloquently than they do in the musical persona of Latin jazz pianist Eddie Palmieri. NYC born and raised, Eddie comes from a musical family and seems to have been ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
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Cleveland's Tri-C Jazz Fest Returns to Playhouse Square in 2022
Source:
Michael Ricci
At jny: Cleveland's Tri-C Jazz Fest, everything new is old again. That might sound retrogressive in a culture that valorizes novelty, but the announcement that the 43rd edition of the festival will return to the historic theaters of Playhouse Square is instead a comforting, Biden-era byword after the disruptions of the past two years. The festival also returns to a three-day schedule, June 23-25, and to a booking policy that incorporates artists with appeal beyond a ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today! Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Eddie Palmieri
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Eddie Palmieri's birthday today!
Eddie Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold pioneering drive, has a musical career that spans over 50 years as a bandleader of both Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late Salsa legend and pianist, Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of ...
read more
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Eddie Palmieri
Instrument: Piano
Born: December 15, 1936
