The legendary musician Eduardo Palmieri Morales, artistically known as Eddie Palmieri, died Wednesday in New Jersey after a long illness. He was 88 years old.
Considered one of the architects of salsa and Latin jazz, and one of the most influential and innovative artists of Latin music in the United States, Palmieri developed a successful career that led him to win several Grammy, collaborate with other important figures and record almost 40 albums.
Pianist, composer and orchestra director, and brother of the famous Charlie Palmieri, Eddie was born on December 15, 1936 at the New York Spanish Harlem.
Son of Puerto Rican parents, he began studying piano in his childhood and throughout the 50s, several tropical music groups were linked, including Johnny Segui orchestras, Vicentico Valdez and Tito Rodríguez, before founding his own band, the perfect, in 1961.
About it the prestigious magazine Billboard points that “redefined the sauce with the use of trombones instead of trumpets, introducing a new sound that became its musical seal.”
“Its 1965 ‘PA’ Ti ‘classic has been recognized for its cultural importance by being incorporated into the American Congress Library in 2009,” adds the publication, which also remembers the innovative fusion of Latin music with Funk, soul and social conscience messages defended by Palmieri in his memorable album Harlem River Driveof 1971.
Eddie Palmieri, Legendary Pianist, Composer & Bandleader, Dies AT 88https://t.co/xhhvbpbjks
– Billboard (@billboard) August 7, 2025
Grammys and other achievements
After recording and producing other albums, including the classic Let’s go for Monte —With his brother Charlie as guest organist, “Eddie Palmieri made history with the album The Sun of Latin Musicwith the then very young singer Lalo Rodríguez.
That album became in 1976 Palo pa ‘rumba (1984) and Solito (1985).
In his extensive career as a musician, composer, arranger and orchestra director, they also highlight phonograms such as Eddie Palmieri & Friends in Concert, Live At the University of Puerto Ricothat fans and specialists consider a jewel of salsa, and Masterpiecetogether with the legendary percussionist Tito Puente.
That album of the year 2000 was a success of criticism and won two Grammy Awards, in addition to being selected as the most outstanding production of the year by the National Foundation for Popular Culture of Puerto Rico.
His musical vision and innovative character led him to merge American jazz with Afro -Caribbean rhythms, to delineate – along with other figures – the sound of Latin jazz and become one of his most recognized ambassadors in stages around the world.
Charismatic musician, in 2005 he debuted on the national public radio of the United States as presenter of the “Hot” program, transmitted by more than 160 radio stations nationwide, refers the CNN.
In addition to Latin Grammy and Grammy awards, Palmieri deserved many other recognitions, including Nea Jazz Master – the most prestigious jazz lauro in the United States – and the Musical Excellence Award of the Latin Academy of Recording.
He was also awarded the Chubb Felowship, from Yale University, usually reserved for heads of state, “in recognition of his work in the construction of communities through music,” summarizes the US chain.
