This hour of Jazz Roots & Branches draws on my 2018 interview with El Rumbero del Piano, Eddie Palmieri.
Nuyorican pianist, composer, and bandleader Eddie Palmieri launched a career in Latin music spanning nine decades with a Carnegie Hall debut at age 11. In 1961 he founded the pathbreaking Latin jazz conjunto La Perfecta, with its first release in 1962 on the Bronx label Alegre. Backing lead singer Ismael Quintana was a remarkable collective that included flautist George Castro; trombonists Barry Rogers and João Donato; trumpeters Al Dirisi, Harold Wegbreit, Joe DeMare, and Willie Matos; bassist Joe Rivera; and a percussion battery with his older brother Charlie Palmieri, Manny Oquendo, Luis “Chicky” Perez, and George Maysonet.
La Perfecta’s pathbreaking blend of vocals, brass, and percussion essentially mapped the classic sound of Latin jazz to come. Exemplifying Palmieri’s definitive 1960s sound, let’s hear “Conmigo” (La Perfecta, 1962) and “Azúcar” (Azúcar pa’ Ti, 1965, was inducted into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2009).
As Palmieri developed his sound, its political potential became manifest with his 1966 release, Mambo con Conga es Mozambique, which in the post-Bay of Pigs Cold War context drew FBI attention due to the popularity of Palmieri’s incorporation of Cuban rhythms including rumba and mozambique, whose drumming was imagined by some to convey secret messages of rebellion—echoing fears reaching back to the era of transatlantic slavery. Palmieri’s experimental approach to Afro-Cuban music was embraced by activist organizations including the Puerto Rican Young Lords, the Black Panthers, the Chicano movement, and the Weathermen. [interview clip and the mozambique “Que Suene la Orchestra”]
In the social ferment of the late 1960s, Palmieri’s Justicia (1969) contributed to the emergent expression of Puerto Rican cultural and political identity, furthered via his convocation of the Latin-R&B fusion group Harlem River Drive in 1971. The latter recording clearly inspired the California Latin funk group War, as heard in their recordings from the 1972–1975 period. Palmieri’s fusion experimentation also informed Chick Corea’s Return to Forever project (e.g., “Spain” from 1973’s Light as a Feather). Let’s hear the title track of that rare 1971 recording, Harlem River Drive.
Two other critical 1960s recordings grew from Palmieri’s association with West Coast vibraphonist Cal Tjader and the latter’s work with Mongo Santamaría and Willie Bobo: El Sonido Nuevo (1966) and Bamboléate (1967). As Palmieri relates: “[Regarding] Cal Tjader, I’ll tell you one that nobody will believe. Cal Tjader never recorded with me. Which means, I [would] record, and he used to come at night and I would tell him what he had to do and he would just… the most incredible natural musician that I’ve ever met… he [said], ‘Tell me where I have to come in and what I have to do, then at night he would come in alone with the engineer… and he played solo, amazing talent, amazing talent.”
Palmieri lays out the composition of the La Perfecta sound. [interview clip, followed by “Bajo con Tumbao” and “Café”]
In 2002 Palmieri released La Perfecta II, a refinement of the original La Perfecta sound, with Conrad Herwig on trombone, Brian Lynch on trumpet, and Herman Olivera on lead vocals. Let’s hear “Ay Que Rico” from that release.
Regarding Sabiduría (2017), Palmieri explains why he does not consider himself to be a jazz musician. [interview clip followed by “Cuerdas y Tumbao” from Sabiduría]
Playlist
Title | Artist | Album | Composer | Label | Year
Conmigo | Eddie Palmieri | La Perfecta | Eddie Palmieri | Alegre | 1962
Azúcar | Eddie Palmieri | Azúcar pa’ Ti | Eddie Palmieri | Tico | 1965
Que Suene la Orchestra | Eddie Palmieri | Mambo con Conga es Mozambique | Eddie Palmieri | Tico | 1966
Harlem River Drive | Eddie Palmieri & Charlie Palmieri | Harlem River Drive | Calvin Clash; Eddie Palmieri | Roulette | 1971
El Sonido Nuevo | Cal Tjader & Eddie Palmieri | El Sonido Nuevo | Cal Tjader; Eddie Palmieri | Verve | 1966
Samba do Suenho | Eddie Palmieri & Cal Tjader | Bamboléate | Cal Tjader | Tico | 1967
Bajo con Tumbao | Eddie Palmieri | Palo pa' Rumba | Eddie Palmieri | Música Latina Internacional | 1984
Café | Eddie Palmieri | El Rumbero del Piano | Eddie Palmieri | RMM | 1998
Ay Que Rico | Eddie Palmieri | La Perfecta II | Eddie Palmieri | Concord Picante | 2002
Cuerdas y Tumbao | Eddie Palmieri | Sabiduría | Eddie Palmieri | Ropeadope | 2017
Eddie Palmieri - Piano
Louis Fouché - Alto Sax
Jonathan Powell - Trumpet
John Benitez - Bass
Camilo Molina - Timbales
Little Johnny Rivero - Congas
Video - Chris Allen Films | Audio Mix - Curtis Curtis at The Vertical Corporation
Performance on May 5, 2018 at Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University
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