September 13, 2005
Scintillating Eddie Palmieri, one of the foremost pianists of the last half century, performs with his Latin Jazz Ensemble at UCSB Campbell Hall
Summary Facts:
- Eddie Palmieri & the Latin Jazz Ensemble
- The Spanish Harlem-born jazz pianist is celebrating his 50th anniversary in the music industry
- Palmieri is a 7-time Grammy Award-winner
- Sunday, October 16 / 7 pm
- UCSB Campbell Hall
- General public: $45 / UCSB students: $19
- Tickets/information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535
- Master Class with UCSB Jazz Ensemble, free and open to public observation, Monday, October 17, 7:30 pm, Geiringer Hall, UCSB Music Building
Jazz pianist and seven-time Grammy Award-winner Eddie Palmieri, a powerhouse of brilliance and sound who has stirred audiences for 50 years, will perform with his band the Latin Jazz Ensemble on Sunday, October 16 at 7 pm at UCSB Campbell Hall. The world has long admired the Spanish Harlem-born Eddie Palmieri as one of the foremost Latin pianists of the last half-century. His ability to fuse the rhythms of his Hispanic, Puerto Rican heritage with the jazz influences of Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner helped him revolutionize the sound of Latin music. The Boston Globe calls Palmieri “the reigning king of bona fide Latin jazz.”
An engaging performer, virtuoso pianist and imaginative composer, Eddie Palmieri has been a bandleader of salsa and Latin jazz orchestras for 50 years and features a discography that includes more than 30 titles. He has been awarded seven Grammys, including the first presentation in the Best Latin Album category for his 1974 release The Sun of Latin Music. He was awarded the Eubie Blake Award by Dr. Billy Taylor in 1991 and he is among the few Latin musicians recognized by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and the New York State Assembly.
In 1988, the Smithsonian Institution recorded two of Palmieri’s performances for their catalog of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., a rare public honor. The 1998 Heineken Jazz Festival in San Juan, PR paid tribute to his contributions as a bandleader, bestowing on him an honorary doctorate degree from the Berklee College of Music. As a member of the New York chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, he was instrumental in creating a new category for Latin Jazz in 1995. His 1994 album Palmas was among the nominees for the first award presented in that category in March 1995. In 1996, he was once again nominated for his album Arete.
Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Palmieri began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late salsa legend and pianist Charlie Palmieri. For Latin New Yorkers of Eddie’s generation, music was a vehicle out of the barrio. At age 11, he made his classical debut at Carnegie Hall. Possessed by a desire to play the drums, Palmieri joined his uncle’s orchestra at age 13, where he played the timbales. Palmieri has said, “By 15, it was good-bye timbales and back to the piano until this day. I’m a frustrated percussionist, so I take it out on the piano.”
He began his professional career as a pianist in the early Œ50s and performed with Eddie Forrester’s Orchestra, Johnny Segui’s band and the Tito Rodriguez Orchestra before forming his own band, the legendary Conjunto La Perfecta in 1961. La Perfecta featured a trombone section in place of trumpets, something that had been rarely done in Latin music, and which demonstrated the early stages of Palmieri’s unconventional 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 the other major Latin orchestras of the day.
Palmieri’s influences include not only his older brother Charlie but also Jesus Lopez, Chapotin, Lili Martinez and other Cuban players of the1940s 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 incessant search to unearth his family’s roots and seek out the origins of the music that profoundly inspired him. His solid interpretation of Afro-Caribbean music and its confluence with jazz is evident in his astute arranging skills, which assemble those components in dramatic and compelling compositions.
His accomplishments have taken him through Europe, Japan and Latin America, showcasing his assemblage of seasoned musicians and kaleidoscope of musical styles.
Eddie Palmieri or a member of his band will teach a master class with the UCSB Jazz Ensemble that is free and open to public observation on Monday, October 17 at 7:30 pm at Geiringer Hall, UCSB Music Building. The class is co-presented by Arts & Lectures with the UCSB Department of Music and is supported by the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation’s Arts Education Outreach Program and Ellen and Robert Raede.
Eddie Palmieri is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures and sponsored by the Santa Barbara News-Press and KCSB Radio 91.9 FM. Arts & Lectures’ Jazz Series, of which this concert is a part, is sponsored by the Warren Family in honor of James Raney Warren. Tickets are $45 for the general public and $19 for UCSB students who must show valid ID at ticket purchase and the evening of the show.
For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.
Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.