An appreciation of Eddie Palmieri, a guiding mild of Latin music : NPR

NPR Music’s Felix Contreras remembers considered one of salsa music’s architects — Eddie Palmieri — who died Wednesday at 88.

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

Latin music misplaced considered one of its guiding lights yesterday. Eddie Palmieri died at age 88. He was a revered musician who was thought of one of many architects of Afro-Caribbean dance music or salsa. NPR Music’s Felix Contreras has been a fan because the Nineteen Seventies, and he is right here in studio to offer us a deeper appreciation of Eddie Palmieri’s contributions to music. Hi.

FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: Hey, Juana.

SUMMERS: So Felix, I imply, we’re speaking a few huge profession that spans greater than 60 years, consists of virtually 40 albums, appearances across the globe. I imply, how can one even sum that up?

CONTRERAS: We’re going to sum it up in a single track, OK? – ‘trigger I believe it illustrates his genius as a composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader and cultural icon. It’s the observe “Puerto Rico” from the 1973 album “Sentido.”

(SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE PALMIERI SONG, “PUERTO RICO”)

SUMMERS: All proper, that is lovely. I’ve not heard this track earlier than. Tell us about it.

CONTRERAS: So it begins with an acoustic guitar. It’s really a Cuban tres, which is approximating the Puerto Rican cuatro. It’s a really, very people instrument. And it units the stage for a deep cultural homage to the island.

(SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE PALMIERI SONG, “PUERTO RICO”)

CONTRERAS: Then the horns are available, and right here we’ve got to speak concerning the position of arrangers in music and the way Eddie Palmieri challenged the established order even at that molecular degree of the music. He put out his first album in 1962, and the favored Latin dance music again then featured flutes and violins. Eddie shaped a really typical small band however used trumpets and trombones. And right here, these horns state the melodic theme of the music. And his musical imaginative and prescient lies in how he harmonizes these horns, how the notes stack up on one another, owing extra to progressive jazz large bands than Nineteen Sixties Latin dance music.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “PUERTO RICO”)

ISMAEL QUINTANA: (Singing in Spanish).

SUMMERS: These lyrics soar proper into singing reward to Puerto Rico. Quote, “beautiful and pretty Island with your blessed waters, I sing to the island of my enchantment.” Wow, how lovely. But Felix, inform us why are these lyrics greater than only a melodic postcard?

CONTRERAS: Because by this level, 1973, self-awareness and satisfaction in Puerto Rican tradition was booming. And it is the aftereffects of the Civil Rights Movement for African Americans earlier, the Chicano Movement within the Southwest. And given the sophisticated and really strained and destructive relationship between the U.S. authorities and the inhabitants of the island, daring statements of satisfaction had been very, very talked-about again then.

SUMMERS: But if I bear in mind appropriately, he wasn’t born on the island, proper?

CONTRERAS: He was not. He was born in New York – Spanish Harlem. He’s a part of the diaspora. And Puerto Ricans born in New York City thought of themselves Nuyoricans. And the island was at all times an emblem of satisfaction and id.

(SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE PALMIERI SONG, “PUERTO RICO”)

SUMMERS: Felix, this a part of the music, it feels totally different. What’s happening right here?

CONTRERAS: OK, the refrain, or the coro, continues singing this reward. Then there’s an instance of Eddie Palmieri’s talent as a bandleader by selecting musicians who shared his imaginative and prescient of stretching and increasing the boundaries of Latin music. And on this part, there are trombone soloists. In different elements of the track, there are trumpets, even a baritone sax – which is one other Eddie Palmieri signature transfer – with killer, killer jazz chops.

SUMMERS: So far, you’ve got given us this unimaginable peek backstage of how musicians and actually hardcore Latin music followers take heed to and expertise this music. But Eddie Palmieri was just about recognized extra broadly for his piano enjoying, is that proper?

CONTRERAS: Cue the piano solo.

(SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE PALMIERI SONG, “PUERTO RICO”)

CONTRERAS: This solo is a superb instance of the affect of jazz, mainstream and even avant-garde piano as a result of the left hand is pounding out these rhythms, and his proper hand is usually a deep universe of exploration.

(SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE PALMIERI SONG, “PUERTO RICO”)

SUMMERS: Felix Contreras is cohost of the Alt.Latino podcast from NPR Music. He books bands for our Tiny Desk sequence. And he is additionally a percussionist who taught himself tips on how to play listening to Eddie Palmieri information. Felix, thanks.

CONTRERAS: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF EDDIE PALMIERI SONG, “PUERTO RICO”)

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