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Palo Alto Online

Son of Latin music

by Laura Reiley

Mention Latin music to the average listener and the recent crop of hot, commercial popsters may spring to mind. But the man who paved the way for their current success might have a thing or two to teach audiences about the genre.

"They're gonna get clobbered. We have no choice in the matter," apologizes six-time Grammy Award-winner Eddie Palmieri.

This year marks Palmieri's 40th anniversary as a pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger, 40 years of combining jazz improvisation with a relentless Latin groove. There's salsa, bomba, plena, son montuno, Afro-Caribbean rhythms all intertwined with the percussive, avant-garde drama of Palmieri's jazz stylings. And when he takes the stage on Saturday night, the audience better beware.

"We have a tremendous orchestra, with about 10 musicians and vocalist Herman Oliveras," Palmieri explains. "The orchestra has become quite large, with really the same structure as Conjunto La Perfecta."

And what was La Perfecta?

It was the seminal band that Palmieri formed back in 1961 in New York, one of the city's busiest Latin dance bands of the time, with a line-up that included John Pacheco, trombonist Barry Rogers, vocalist Ismael "Pat" Quintana, percussionist Manny Oquendo on timbales and flutist George Castro.

"At that time Cuba was the influence to all our dance music, it was our umbilical cord. When I played at that time there was a popular dance called the pachanga, so my brother [jazz pianist Charlie Palmieri] called what we did a trombanga," Palmieri recalls.

The etymology goes like this: It's "trombanga" because the frontline showcased two trombones and a trumpet or flute -- a combo that made them known as "the band with the crazy roaring elephants." It is a lineup that continues in Palmieri's current orchestra. But still, a lot has changed over the past 40 years.

Palmieri was born to Puerto Rican parents in the Bronx with music all around him. He began singing and playing piano at age eight, with a two-year stint as a teenage timbale player.

"My brother was truly the genius on the piano, so I started playing the timbales. My mother said, 'When will you learn? Your brother is so beautiful because he goes to work and he doesn't have to carry an instrument.' I sold the timbales to my uncle and I never looked back."

That no-regrets policy has informed a lot of Palmieri's lifetime. Leaving the safety of the Tito Rodriguez Orchestra was a pivotal point in Palmieri's early career.

"That was the best decision, in my opinion. The records are there to prove it -- with great musicians, different orchestras, different structural designs of the personnel. We went to a larger orchestra, with five saxes and four trombones."

Clearly the musical world received him with open arms. His album "Sun Of Latin Music" won the first-ever Grammy Award in the newly created Latin record category in 1976.

"Seventeen years it took them to get that category -- incredible but true. That was the most important one for me because it opened up the floodgates [for Latin artists]. My brother never had an opportunity to qualify, and since then it certainly has developed," Palmieri recalls.

This year Palmieri won his sixth Grammy with the legendary Tito Puente, who died just two weeks after "Masterpiece" was recorded. Since Puente's death, many people feel that the torch has been passed to Palmieri, and that he has been dubbed the new Godfather of Latin music.

Of that moniker, Palmieri says, "Well, the responsibility is a welcome challenge to me. We lost the greatest bandstand warrior we ever had, but we too have taken our music to international bandstands. I'm on my way back to Europe at the end of July."

"A lot of orchestras travel, but we really have been quite unique in our travels -- we've been to Turkey, Australia, Macedonia, Japan, Sweden, Scotland, Denmark. We'll do 21 concerts in 28 days in 11 countries. We're honored to do it, to take the responsibility. I'm really the only rhythmical, musical apostle."

With a discography of more than 30 titles and a heavy touring schedule, Palmieri doesn't seem to be slowing down at age 65. He aims to continually destroy all musical boundaries. And he wouldn't rule out the possibility of more Grammies in his future.

I was given my first Grammy by Chick Corea as well as my last one. We've been nominated 12 times, so, like in baseball, I'm batting 500."

Who: Eddie Palmieri

Where: Icon Supper Club, 260 California Ave., Palo Alto

When:8:30 p.m. Saturday

Cost: Tickets are $25

Call: (650) 289-0222