Eddie Palmieri

The "Sun of Latin Music," Grammy Award-winning Eddie Palmieri has long enjoyed a stature comparable to the Mighty Sparrow among calypso fans or Kui Lee among Hawaiian-music fans. In each case a major artist emerged in his youth, captured hearts, and achieved musical heroism by modernizing his idiom; dance music became worn out quickly during the 1960s. Revolutionizing Latin music, Eddie Palmieri added his own hip sophistication and always broke new ground. Most famous for his tremendous Harlem River Drive album, the masterpiece of "nuevayorquino soul jazz," Palmieri repeatedly set the high marks in progressive Latin. His albums constitute a solid body of work with many, many highlights and few embarassments. La Perfecta and his later groups also backed other stars of Latin music.

Palmieri was born in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem, New York) and grew up in the Bronx. Through his older brother Charlie, who recognized inspiration early on, Eddie landed gigs with Tito Rodríguez and others before forming his own group. As one liner states, Eddie's style marries a soul-jazz funkiness (attributed to McCoy Tyner) with the traditional dance rhythms of Cuban pianists such as Luis Grinan. His choice of influences did not stop at mentors, however. The Palmieri band included, in addition to Charlie occasionally, singer Ismael Quintana and trumpeter Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros. An inspired, disciplined composer-pianist with a consistently stellar band could hardly go wrong.