Remembering the singular style of the late Latin jazz icon Eddie Palmieri

Latin jazz great Eddie Palmieri, who died Aug. 6 at age 88 in his home in New Jersey after an extended illness, performed several times at Symphony Center, most recently in January 2015.

Fania Records, his longtime label, which released many of his more than 40 studio albums over his long career, announced Palmieri’s death on Wednesday evening. A bandleader, arranger and composer, Palmieri also was universally acclaimed as one of the finest pianists, in any genre, of the last 60 years.

An NEA Jazz Master (the genre’s highest honor) and a 10-time Grammy winner, Palmieri became one of the most important innovators in Afro-Cuban music. In 2013, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences.

Known as “The Sun of Latin Music,” “The Keybreaker,” “The Rumbero del Piano” and “The Emperor of Salsa,” Palmieri and his musical history, as one scribe once observed, “can encompass in a single name all the synonyms of greatness in this world.” 

Born in New York’s Spanish Harlem on Dec. 15, 1936, of Puerto Rican and Corsican descent, and raised in the Bronx, Palmieri was the younger brother of another Latin jazz master, Charlie Palmieri, whom his sibling regarded as one of his greatest jazz influences, along with Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner.

In an interview posted on grammy.com in 2021, Palmieri recalled his brother’s enduring influence: "I’m a happy camper with all my experience. I would say my brother was the pianist; I’m the piano player. It’s an incredible story between two brothers who loved each other very much. He died at 60 years young. I’ve made it my business to not only extend my legacy as far as what I do, but to live as long as I possibly can because there’s so much work to do."

At age 8, Eddie began studying the piano, following in the path of his brother Charlie. However, Eddie started out by studying classical music, and at age 11, auditioned to perform at Carnegie Hall. He made his debut at the historic venue that very year. At 13, though, he took a detour and began playing timbales in his uncle’s orchestra. He eventually abandoned the instrument and went back to the piano. "I’m a frustrated percussionist, so I take it out on the piano," he once said, hence his nickname “The Keybreaker.”

In 1955, he made professional debut with the Johnny Segui Orchestra; three years later, he joined Tito Rodriguez’s band and remained there until 1960. In 1961, Palmieri formed La Perfecta, with a flute and trombone front line modeled on the Cuban-style charanga format of piano, bass, violins, flute and percussion. In the late ’60s through the ’70s, Palmieri joined the vanguard of the genre known as salsa, which coalesced in New York City during that time. Later in the ’70s, Palmieri moved toward a free-form sound that encompassed elements of salsa, funk, soul and jazz.

Over his career, other influences trickled in. In its obituary of Palmieri, the New York Times quoted art historian and critic Robert Farris Thompson, writing in 1975 about the rise of salsa: “Palmieri blends avant-garde rock, Debussy, John Cage and Chopin without overwhelming the basic Afro-Cuban flavor. A new world music, it might be said, is being born.”

Among his best known works are the songs "Vamonos Pa’l Monte," “Azucar,” “Ay Que Rico,” “Muñeca,” “Bilongo” and “La Verdad.” All his works display the sense of excitement that became his trademark. “If there’s any iota of wisdom that I have, it’s that I don’t think my music might excite you; I know it will,” he liked to say. 

In January 2015, after a Symphony Center Presents Jazz double bill featuring the Carlos Henriquez Quintet and the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band, that excitement was on display with each group delivering a rhythmic celebration of Latin jazz. Afterward, Palmieri joined members of the CSO Latino Alliance for a memorable networking event that “resonated with the vibrant energy of the performance,” wrote Ramiro J. Atristaín-Carrión, the Latino Alliance’s founding co-chair.

Continuing to perform well into his 80s, Palmieri said in the grammy.com interview: "I’m happy to be so healthy and alive and that I can perform. I celebrate that every day. You’ve always got to look forward. That’s for sure. But the recordings that I have done — remember that my forte was with the big band, OK? Always with the big band."