Composers

Eddie Palmieri

Visionary Maestro of Latin Music

He has been termed the "madman" of Latin Music- an inspired virtuoso circumventing musical boundaries, submerged in the avant-garde and deeply rooted in the Afro-Latin tradition. Eddie Palmieri's courageous effort to fuse a wealth of unorthodox instrumentation and genres take him beyond eccentricity securing him a position as an outstanding leader, pianist and composer.

Vortex, his newest release on the RMM/TropiJazz label, concludes a three-part series of Afro-Cuban jazz albums produced by Palmieri's acclaimed octet (the two previous releases are Palmas, released in 1994 on the Elektra/Nonesuch label and Arete, released on RMM/TropiJazz in 1995). He says: "Everyone in music today is trying to interpret Afro-Caribbean rhythms and song that have been with us for thousands of years. What I'm bringing in Vortex is the incredible range that our music embraces."

Eddie Palmieri's latest release includes seven new instrumental compositions that extend the pianist's interpretation of Latin Jazz. It is a homage to the deity Oya, ruler of the wind and a tempestuous goddess of the Afro-Caribbean pantheon.

Weaving a rich web of jazz phrasing, classical and progressive elements, a Palmieri composition most resembles an orchestra suite, frequently beginning with a classic tango or danzon , venturing suddenly into an explosive melange of stabbing horn riffs, percussive piano and, always, the unremitting pulsing rhythm that binds those elements. The immediacy and intensity of his music seek to drive, stir and inspire; a rejuvenator of the soul, Palmieri captures your heart through song and your feet through dance.

The opening composition, "Dona Tere", is pure Palmieri, beginning with an introspective piano solo that segues into an Afro-Caribbean dance structure. "Displacement" expresses Palmieri's exploration of the mathematical models expounded by the late Russian composer Joseph Schillinger. "Minuet in G" is Beethoven's well-known piece rhythmically transformed into a Cuban-style danzon, realizing Palmieri's long time plan to create "classical blasphemy" by revolutionizing the music of his favorite classical composers. "Whirlwind" the albums final composition, opens with a powerful solo on udu drum that calls out to Oya, and concludes with a storm of percussion suitable for this Afro-Caribbean goddess.

Eddie Palmieri's musical career spans three decades as a leader of jazz/salsa orchestras. His voluminous discography is equally impressive with 30 recordings to his name. He has won five Grammies, including the first presentation in the Best Latin Album category for his 1975 release The Sun of Latin Music and again the following year for Unfinished Masterpiece for his 1984 release Palo Pa' Rumba , for Solito in 1985 and for La Verdad in 1987. He was also awarded the Eubie Blake Award by Billy Taylor in 1991 and he is the only Latin musician recognized by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and the New York State Assembly. The Smithsonian Institute in 1988 recorded and documented two of Palmieri's performances for their catalog of the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C., a rare public honor bestowed on few Latin artists.

Most recently, in his position as Vice-President of the Board of Governors of the New York chapter of the National Association of Recording Arts and Science (NARAS), Palmieri worked to establish a new Grammy category recognizing Latin jazz. His 1994 album, Palmas, was among the nominees for the first award presented in that category in March 1995; his next release, Arete, also was named a nominee in that category in 1996.

Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie Palmieri and his celebrated older brother, the late salsa legend and pianist Charlie Palmieri, began piano studies at an early age. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie's generation, music was a vehicle for out of the barrio. At age 11 he made his classical debut at Carnegie Hall, a venue as far from the Bronx as he could imagine. Possessed with an urgency to play the drums, Palmieri joined his uncle's orchestra, where he played the timbales and memorized percussion solos by Tito Puente. Says Palmieri, "By 15 it was good-bye timbales and back to the piano until this day. I'm a frustrated percussionist, so I took it out on the piano."

He began his professional career as a pianist in the early '50's with Eddie Forrester's Orchestra and with Johnny Segui in 1955 and spent a year with the Tito Rodriquez Orchestra before embarking on his own in 1961 to form the legendary "Conjunto La Perfecta,". La Perfecta featured a trombone section (fronted by the late Barry Rogers) in place of trumpets, something that had been rarely done in Latin music and demonstrated the early stages of Palmieri's unconventional means of orchestration. They were known as "the band with the crazy roaring elephants" for the configuration of two trombones, flute, percussion, bass and vocalist. With an infectious and soaring sound, Palmieri's band soon joined the ranks of Machito, Tito Rodriquez, and other major Latin orchestras of the day.

Palmieri's influences not only include his older brother Charlie but Jesus Lopez, Chapotin, Lili Martinez and other Cuban players of the 1940's; and jazz luminaries Art Tatum, Bobby Timmons, Bill Evans, Horace Silver, Bud Powell, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. Equally important were influences derived from Palmieri's curiosity and incessant search to unearth his family roots and seek out the origins of the music that profoundly inspired him. Says Palmieri, "In Cuba, there was a development e no musical boundaries.

Biographical Information:
Courtesy of Eddie Palmieri
© 1997 PALMAS FLORIBE (BMI)/Administered by BUG
All Rihts Reserved. Used by Permission.

Recordings for "Palmas", "You Dig", "Doctor Duck", "Bolero Dos", "Bouncer", found on the Three-Two web site were written and performed by Eddie Palmieri.
© 1994 PALMAS FLORIBE (BMI)/AdministeredBUG
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

The recording for "Slowvisor" found on the Three-Two web sight was performed by Eddie Palmieri. "Slowvisor" was written by Eddie Palmieri and Joshua Evan Freifield

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