HotHouse
certainly lived up to its name
when Eddie Palmieri came blazing
through town recently. It was
also a rare treat to experience
a performer of this magnitude
in such an intimate setting. As
one of the dwindling number of
classics, Palmieri is in the echelon
of those who can do no wrong.
And believe me he did not disappoint.
As one of the founding fathers
of what is popularly known as
"salsa," (which actually
consists of many subcategories
- guaguanco, son montuno, etc.)
Palmieri has done it all. He was
also a part of the early Fania
All Stars in the late 60's, early
70's, which really got the "salsa
movement" going.
This
time around, Palmieri is going
back to the roots of his legendary
"Conjunto La Perfecta" from 1961
and dubbed his ensemble "La Perfecta
II". After recently having many
of the lost arrangements from
the original era recharted, he
decided to rework them and bring
them back anew. Palmieri was the
man responsible for bringing trombones
into salsa, a style referred to
as "trombanga" which consisted
of two trombones and a flute along
with the ever present trumpet.
Prior to that, the rage was the
violins and flute sound of charanga.
What stands out above everything
else for me is Palmieri's arranging
expertise. He pens much of his
music and his arrangements are
phenomenal. In particular the
horn charts, which for me, are
some of the most creative in Latin
music, send my ears reeling with
pleasure. Palmieri's roots are
really Afro-Cuban jazz, however,
at HotHouse, he played straight
out salsa and cha cha cha. In
fact, after the first piece, with
no one dancing, as this was a
"show", he chided "I just got
word from the management - you
are allowed to dance" and proceeded
with such steam, that there was
no other alternative but to get
out there.
Even
though I cut my writing teeth
on jazz reviews way back when,
I must come clean and say that
most salseros (myself included)
are known to abhor those endless
jazz solos as the music is all
about dancing. However, when music
is that hot and the solos so over
the top, the usual complaints
fall by the wayside. Obviously,
things are tightened up in the
studio into the 4 to 5 minute
Latin tracks we are used to, but
in live performance, infinity
can prevail. I could describe
so much of what Palmieri does
as "descarga" or a Latin jam,
but aimless they are not. The
arrangements speak for themselves.
The musical choices seemed to
be pretty much split down the
middle at HotHouse, alternating
almost exactly back and forth
between all forms of salsa and
cha cha cha.
Most
importantly, this man just consistently
draws and inspires the best musicians
around, bar none! Here we had
Palmieri's typical trumpet, 2
trombones and a flute configuration
in this 10 piece conjunto. Driving
the line up were Doug Beavers
and Chris Washburn on trombone
with Brian Lee on trumpet along
with Karen Joseph on flute. It
is only another tribute to Palmieri
that he retains vocalists, like
current front man, Herman Olivera,
with incredible track records
(Tito Puente, Jimmy Bosch band,
etc.) who could certainly command
their own bands. Previously, Palmieri
has held court with the likes
of Wichy Camacho and Tony Vega,
to mention a few - la creme de
la creme. Here Olivera is the
consummate professional and brings
the energy level up that much
higher - if it is possible. His
vocals are impeccable, as he rhythmically
grabs each note, making it totally
his own, truly a feat within the
complicated rhythms witnessed.
Clearly having so much fun himself,
which is contagious, Palmieri
and company played two full hour
sets with a long break in between,
but surprisingly no encore at
all.
One
could go on ad infinitum with
the accolades. Palmieri was born
in Spanish Harlem (NYC) in 1936
to Puerto Rican parents and began
his piano studies at an extremely
early age along with his also
legendary brother, Charlie Palmieri
(now deceased). He made his debut
at a Carnegie Hall competition
at age 11, has been awarded seven
Grammies, and has recorded over
30 titles. His history is endless...
as befits a man who has been paving
new ground for much of his 66
years.
We
must cherish these high priests
of musical history as we are losing
them and remember, no matter what
you hear today, that they wrote
the book! May Eddie Palmieri blaze
new trails forever...
