EDDIE PALMIERI & MICHEL CAMILO Play The Lehman Center 9/25

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts continues its 30th Anniversary Season with a spectacular offering featuring two piano masters of Latin music, EDDIE PALMIERI and Michel Camilo, who will perform at Lehman Center on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 8pm. One of the foremost Latin pianists of all time, EDDIE PALMIERI revolutionized the sound of Latin music and has thrilled audiences with his legendary style for over half a century. A pianist with brilliant technique, Michel Camilo flavors his compositions with Latin rhythms and jazz harmonies, playing Latin-tinged jazz with a contemporary sense of swing that reflects his joyous, effervescent personality. This is guaranteed to be an evening of exciting, explosive performances by two of the most extraordinary musicians in the world.

Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Tickets for EDDIE PALMIERI AFRO-CARIBBEAN JAZZ SEPTET and Michel Camilo on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 8pm are: $50, $45, $40 and $35 and can be purchased by calling the Lehman Center box office at 718.960.8833 (Mon. through Fri., 10am-5pm, and beginning at 12 noon on the day of the concert), or through 24-hour online access at www.LehmanCenter.org. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Free on-site parking is available.

Eddie Palmieri, the Spanish Harlem-born piano powerhouse and leader of salsa and Latin jazz orchestras, is known for his remarkable arranging skills and historic compositions. Starting piano studies at an early age, he began his career as a pianist in the ‘50s with Eddie Forrester's Orchestra. He spent a year with Tito Rodriguez before forming the legendary Conjunto La Perfecta in 1961. With an infectious sound, Palmieri's band soon joined the ranks of Machito, Tito Rodriguez and other major orchestras of the day. Palmieri's discography includes 36 titles, of which nine have received GRAMMY® Awards, including Best Latin Album awards for The Sun of Latin Music (1975), Unfinished Masterpiece (1976), Palo Pa' Rumba (1984), Solito (1985) and La Verdad (1987). In 1988, the Smithsonian recorded two of Palmieri's performances for its catalog of the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. His composition "Azucar Pa' Ti" was inducted into the 2009 National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress as a significant recording of 1965. He received both a GRAMMY and a Latin GRAMMY for Obra Maestra/Masterpiece (2000) with Tito Puente and GRAMMYs for Best Latin Jazz Album for Listen Here! (2006) and Simpatico (2007), a collaborative effort with trumpet master Brian Lynch. The Eddie Palmieri Afro-Caribbean Jazz Septet includes Brian Lynch (trumpet), Yosvany Terry (alto sax, chekere), Jose Claussell (timbales), Vicente "Little Johnny" Rivero (congas), Orlando Vega (bongo) and Luques Curtis (bass).

Michel Camilo, born in the Dominican Republic, studied for 13 years at the National Conservatory, earning a Professorship in Music degree, and at 16 joined the National Symphony Orchestra. Moving to New York in 1979, he continued his studies at Mannes and Juilliard School of Music. Since his 1985 Carnegie Hall debut he has become a prominent figure at festivals throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan, Asia, Middle East, South America and the Caribbean. With 18 recordings to date, he has received a GRAMMY, an Emmy, two Latin GRAMMYs, several Casandra awards and the Soberano (Dominican Republic) and two Premios de la Música (Spain). Camilo has performed with the biggest stars of both jazz and Latin music, including Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Herbie Hancock, Mongo Santamaria, Joe Lovano, Arturo Sandoval, Cachao, David Sánchez, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Chucho Valdés. He has received a two-year appointment as Jazz Creative Director Chair of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, a five-year tenure as Musical Director of the Heineken Jazz Festival (Dominican Republic), voted among the Top 10 Jazz Pianists of the Year by the 69th Annual DownBeat Magazine Readers Poll, co-Artistic Director of the first Latin-Caribbean Music Festival at the Kennedy Center, and a three-year Herb Alpert Visiting Professorship at Berklee College of Music, where he created the Michel Camilo Scholarship for Dominican students studying jazz. Michel Camilo Trio includes Charles Flores (bass) and Cliff Almond (drums).

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. Lehman Center also receives support from the New York State Council on the Arts.