The mourning sauce after the physical match this Wednesday of pianist Eddie Palmieri

Published at: 06/08/2025 10:02 PM

The veteran of the Latin music scene in New York and leader of the intergenerational Afro-Cuban sound, Eddie Palmieri, died this Wednesday, August 6, at the age of 88, his son confirmed.

Recently, the pianist had canceled a participation in a concert in New York suffering from health problems, the Última Noticias portal reported.

Known as one of the best pianists of the last 50 years, Palmieri was an innovative conductor, arranger and composer of salsa and Latin jazz. He was the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II and Harlem River Drive.

His playing masterfully merged the rhythm of his Puerto Rican heritage with soul, funk and the complexity of his jazz influences: Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner.

The American pianist, conductor, musician and composer of Corsican and Puerto Rican descent, was the first Latin artist to receive the Grammy Award and, in 1988, the Smithsonian Museum of National History recorded two of his performances for its musical archives.

Throughout more than six decades of career, Palmieri collaborated with great figures such as Tito Puente, Ismael Quintana, Cal Tjader and Rubén Blades, among others. His discography includes classics such as “Sugar for you”, “Cinturita”, “Muñeca” and "Vámonos pa'l monte”.

In addition to his musical career, Palmieri was an active defender of Afro-Latin culture and participated in social movements that promoted Puerto Rican pride and identity in the United States.

In 1961, he founded the La Perfecta orchestra, which included salsa figures such as the singer Ismael Quintana, the percussionist Manny Oquendo (founder of the Free Ensemble) and the trombonist Barry Rogers.

Palmieri joined the wave of Afro-Latin music in New York before the salsa boom as a consolidated genre. With Fania in the 70s he recorded works such as The Sun of Latin Music (1974) and Unfinished Masterpiece (1975).

He also participated, on a sporadic basis, with the cast of La Fania's salsa superstars in concerts such as those of the Red Garter (1968) and the Cheetah Club (1971), both in New York.

In addition to Quintana, important voices in the genre became known, such as Lalo Rodríguez and La India, who later ventured into romantic sauce.

In the 1990s, Palmieri decided to venture into Latin jazz, and until his last years, he maintained a smaller ensemble than La Perfecta, in which musicians such as Hermán Olivera (voice), Nelson González (three Cuban) and Johnny Rivero (percussion) participated.

In 2013, he received the highest honor award for Jazz Master from the National Fund for the Arts and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Mazo News Team