Latin Music Icon Eddie Palmieri Coming To SOPAC

On Saturday, May 21, Eddie Palmieri, the "Madman of Salsa," will tickle the ivories with his Latin Jazz band. The 85-year-old ten-time Grammy winner and NEA Jazz Master has been playing the piano and composing electrifying music for over six decades. Tickets for his show at SOPAC range from $45-$59 and are available through SOPACnow.org/Eddie-Palmieri-2022.

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.

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 perfected his arranging skills in the 1970s releasing several impressive recordings. 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 Award for Best Latin Recording for The Sun of Latin Music (he's won ten Grammy Awards 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.

In 2013, Eddie Palmieri was awarded the coveted Jazz Master award by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) in addition to a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

At this time, all SOPAC patrons are required to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test and wear a mask. All current Covid-19 Precautions & Policies can be found at SOPACnow.org/Covid-19.

To post a comment, you must register and login.