By Catalina Maria Johnson – NPR.org – Photo: Erik Valind/Courtey of the Artist.
There is possibly no other single musician who has defined the state of Latin Jazz more than Eddie Palmieri, who turns 81 years old today. Palmieri’s music masterfully displays the funk and soul of his Harlem birthplace and his early home across the city in the Bronx, knitting together Afro-Cuban beats, but also the influences of the great jazz musicians who were his contemporaries. Palmieri specifically mentions learning how to “play the silences” from jazz pianist Ahmed Jamal.
