Father of Latin Jazz
is Back for More
with “La Perfecta II”

If you want to talk Latin Jazz with pianist Eddie Palmieri, you’d better do your homework. Get ready to talk about the mathematical rhythmic system of Joseph Schillinger (1895-1943), the Moorish conquest of Spain (711 AD) and the latissimus dorsi (big muscles in your back).

Yamaha artist Eddie Palmieri

The seven-time GRAMMY® winner (“They don’t affect my ego, but I sleep with them at night”) reflects on the release of “La Perfecta II,” the new Concord Picante Records release that takes its name from the groundbreaking 1960s ensemble Palmieri once said he’d never revisit after original members Barry Rogers and Jose Rodriguez passed away.

“Salsa blasphemy, that’s the word I used,” says Palmieri, who turns 66 in December. “What they both did in my opinion will never be equaled.”

Yet here he is, with a new band, a three-record contract and a new relationship with Yamaha, joining the company’s artist roster. Palmieri owns Yamaha pianos in both of his homes: an upright in Puerto Rico and a new C6 conservatory grand piano in the Bronx, NY. “This is the first time I’ve ever endorsed an instrument, and I’m quite honored,” he says.

He’s also embarking on something completely new by writing his first Broadway show, to be titled The Bandstand, which will get going in earnest after he records his next studio LP this winter.

”It’s based on the first migration of Puerto Ricans here, including my mother in 1925 and my father in 1926. They’ll either run me out of Broadway on opening night, or I’m going to have a hell of a run,” he predicts.

Palmieri, whose career highlights include the self-titled 1964 La Perfecta and 1975’s The Sun of Latin Music with its single “Un Dia Bonito,” won’t say he’s on a mission with this new burst of artistic work, but part of his motivation is keeping the flame of Latin jazz for today’s young musicians. It’s a job he clearly feels needs to be done.

“Our genre is in a terrible state,” Palmieri laments. “They have altered the compositions and they have what we call ‘la salsa monga’ or deadwood salsa – minimal or no climax at all. I want to give a lyrical, rhythmic, harmonic oxygen cocktail to the genre, which is desperately needed. Each man in the new band is a sincere student of his instrument. We have that to offer to the young artists.”

Whatever his motivation — and despite his consistent good humor — Palmieri takes this all very seriously, especially rhythm and structure. From surveying today’s music he moves seamlessly into an explanation of how Africans’ use of drums for communication in medieval Spain influenced the Conquistadors’ attitude toward Caribbean rhythms centuries later, and how that beat found its way to New York by way of Cuba. “These patterns have been with us now for 40 thousand years,” he says.

Schillinger’s mathematical approach to music is another influence he embraces, explaining, “Thanks to him, I learned it scientifically: unbalancing axes — tension and resistance, like tying a ball to a string, going from inertia to impetus. That’s what happens in a composition.”

Palmieri stresses the physical demands of playing the piano, and turns to yoga to keep himself limber. “It’s technique, it’s hours of enduring practice,” he says. “Tendons, joints, knuckles — there’s so much to just getting up on the piano. The spinal cord is the brain’s filing cabinet, so before a performance I’m on the floor straightening out my spine.”

Through his new relationship with Yamaha, Palmieri says he hopes to teach himself some new tricks, especially in the electronic arena. “I want to explore notation software, computers, electronics,” he says, adding that he’s especially curious about the Yamaha Disklavier® system. “That would be ideal for my European tours,” he deadpans: “I could send them the disk, they can send me the check and I can stay home.”

All kidding aside, if anything, Palmieri’s zeal to perform is growing, and between his scientific approach and four decades at the top of his game, it’s not without a little confidence.

“I don’t guess I’m gonna excite you with my music,” he proclaims. “I know it. I’m gonna get ya.”

 

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