Pianist Eddie Palmieri will play Saturday night. --Courtesy photo
Music writers often use the word ?organic? in ways that imply primitive improvisation rather than structure, that the musicians go wherever the whim of the moment takes them. But pianist Eddie Palmieri?s music, however organic it may sound, is very much the result of a well-thought-out plan.
?I don?t guess I?m going to excite you with my music ? I know it,? said the nine-time Grammy Award winner. ?That?s because that music, within the compositions, is always bringing the rhythm in a primary position.
?I?m creating tension and resistance, and that tension and resistance is going to give you an exciting musical climax.?
Palmieri was taking a few days off at his home in Las Vegas when we called last week ? a welcome break in a busy year for the musician, who spent much of 2012 on tour.
MANOA JAZZ & HERITAGE FESTIVALWith the Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet, featuring Dafnis Prieto and Luques Curtis Where: Andrews Amphitheatre, University of Hawaii-Manoa When: 6 p.m. Saturday Cost: $15-$30; $6-$23 in advance; $54 for onstage seating Info: 956-8246; for tickets, 944-2697 or www.etickethawaii.com |
The ?25-year-old? pianist ? ?I was told when you?re 50 you start counting over,? Palmieri, born Dec. 15, 1936, explained with a hearty laugh ? headlines the 2012 Manoa Jazz & Heritage Festival tomorrow at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, joining performers from the Islands and local schools.
?Sex and dangers are the exciters, and the reaction of the human being is love and fear,? Palmieri continued, saying that those emotions are found in all of his arrangements. ?Within each composition we?re gonna excite you. It?s built that way.?
His enthusiasm ? and his hearty laughter ? was contagious.
Palmieri went on to explain that his development as a musician included conventional music lessons, formal training in musical composition, and exposure to the theories of teacher and mathematician Joseph Schillinger.
He began entering talent contests at 8 with his older brother, the late Charlie Palmieri, and formed his first band at the age of 14.
He also listened to every Cuban record he could find and embraced the vibrant Latin music scene of postwar New York.
Palmieri?s first album, ?La Perfecta,? introduced new ideas in Latin music.
?I learned intuitively (listening to the records); then with my teachers and Schillinger I learned scientifically. The tension and resistance comes when you put the rhythm section in the primary position. That?s the secret.?
Palmieri has played with many different combinations of musicians in the half-century since ?La Perfecta.? He performs at Andrews as part of the Eddie Palmieri-Brian Lynch Quartet featuring Dafnis Prieto and Luques Curtis, with trumpeter Brian Lynch, drummer/composer Dafnis Prieto and bassist Luques (pronounced Lu-kez) Curtis.
?It?s a different format from the usual ? but this is a dynamic quartet,? he said.
?Dafnis Prieto, he?s amazing. A tremendous musician, a great drummer, great arranger, and he won the ?genius? award? from the MacArthur Fellows Program, which recognizes creative figures in the United States.
?Then we have the great Mr. Trompeta, which is Brian Lynch. We?ve been together now for two centuries ? 25, 26, 27 years, around there.
?Luques is one of the young talents and the best bass player that has comprehended me in my career. That?s how incredible he is, and we?re quite elated that he?s been able to travel with us.?
And, of course, on piano, Eddie Palmieri ? a trend-setter and innovator since the ?60s.
The concert tomorrow comes near the end of what has been a busy year for Palmieri. He?s been to Australia once, played a concert in New York and done three separate European tours. He flew back from Germany after one of them for a one-nighter at the Hollywood Bowl and the day after that went to Bogota, Colombia, for a free concert with El Gran Combo, one of the legendary orchestras of Puerto Rico.
Palmieri estimates the Bogota crowd as somewhere between 60,000 and 90,000 people. By comparison, seeing Palmieri at Andrews is almost like having him in your living room.
Palmieri?s travels didn?t end there. He played South Africa for the first time ever, then returned to the States (?It was a 15-hour flight?) and picked up his big 13-piece orchestra for five nights at the Blue Note in Tokyo.
?You should see my passport,? he says, laughing heartily.
Sometime during his travels Palmieri was notified that he was the fourth Hispanic musician ? after Paquito D?Rivera (2005), Ray Barretto (2006) and Candido Camero (2008) ? to be named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts.
?They tell you to keep it quiet till they?re ready to release their press release, and then they release it,? he related. ?In December, when I do the Lincoln Center (show) celebrating my ?26th birthday,? there?ll be a dinner. It?s all very exciting.?
One more thing: Palmieri turns two emphatic thumbs down on the use of the word ?salsa? as a one-size-fits-all term for modern Latin music.
?When you lump (all the different rhythmic patterns in Latin music) under the word ?salsa,? it?s a misnomer and a tremendous lack of respect. The best response to that was Tito Puente: ?I put ?salsa? on my spaghetti, baby!??
?John Berger / jberger@staradvertiser.com
Source: http://www.honolulupulse.com/tgifinprint/manoa-jazz-fest-2012
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