EDDIE
PALMIERI
Ritmo Caliente
Concord
Picante
Read
the Jazzitude review of Eddie Palmieri/Listen Here!
Sometimes with Latin jazz, the “jazz” part of
the equation gets lost. That’s not the case with Eddie
Palmieri, who is now the undisputed king of Latin jazz bandleaders.
Palmieri knows that it’s not enough to just throw a
few horns over a cooking Latin rhythm section and call it
Latin jazz; his music is a true hybrid that brings out the
flavor of both genres.
Ritmo Caliente goes deep into Palmieri’s bag
of Latin styles and also explores his affection for classical
musical forms while maintaining its jazz identity throughout.
The horn arrangements on “La Voz del Caribe” are
tight and sharp—replace the Latin rhythm section on
many of these tracks with a medium tempo shuffle and you’ve
got as swinging a jazz big band as you can imagine. “Grandpa
Semi-Tone Blues” grafts a boogie blues riff, complete
with some barrelhouse rolls from Palmieri, onto a montuno
section where he vamps behind Karen Joseph’s flute solo
and a percussion jam before the horns return to restate the
theme.
Eddie again uses the “Trombanga” sound he pioneered
with his La Perfecta ensemble, pairing trombones with flute
in what became a classic Latin jazz sound. On most tracks
he’s added trumpet and a saxophone or two, but the trombone
is very much in evidence on his sumptuous cha-cha version
of Mayito Fernandez’s “Lazaro y Su Microfono”
and “Ritmo Caliente II,” where he utilizes three
of them for a robust, low-end brass sound. Strings are added
for the lush “Tema Para Renee” and the ambitious
“Gigue (Bach goes Bata),” which combines a Bach
theme with a 6/8 bata, alternating between a chamber ensemble
and a blasting big band horn section.
Throughout Ritmo Caliente, Palmieri’s piano
work is one of the unifying elements, melding this heady combination
of Latin rhythms, jazz ensemble work, and classical themes.
His playing really swings, whether he is vamping behind soloists,
throwing out a bit of boogie, spinning gauejos, playing Bach,
or setting a romantic tone, as he does on his introduction
to “Tema Para Renee.” Eddie is a master musician
who knows that the more spices that go into the dish, the
tastier it will be in the end.
--Marshall Bowden--
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