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Eddi Palmieri

  • 08-Oct-2017
  • 7:00 PM
  • 980 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222


Eddie Palmieri

Sunday, October 8, 2017 • 7:00 PM

Buy Tickets HERE

August Wilson Center

For tickets and information visit the African American Cultural Center pages on AWC.TRUSTARTS.ORG or call 412-456-6666.

Partnering with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and the Brother’s Brother Foundation, The August Wilson Center for African American Culture celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with the Latin soul of one of the most prolific composers and pianist, Nuyorican, EDDIE PALMIERI AND HIS SALSA ORCHESTRA on October 8, 2017 at 7pm. Known as a virtuoso pianist for over 60 years, Eddie Palmieri is a bandleader, arranger and composer of salsa and Latin jazz. His compositions fuse the rhythm of his Puerto Rican heritage with the complexity of his jazz influences: Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner as well as his older brother, Charlie Palmieri.

President of the August Wilson Center, Janis Burley Wilson, loves Latin music and encourages the community to join her in this celebration of music rooted in African rhythms. “In collaboration with our community partners, we will revel in the music of the Caribbean, and support our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean affected by the natural disasters that have destroyed many lives.”

The Brother’s Brother Foundation will be in the August Wilson Center lobby to accept monetary donations for hurricane survivors throughout the Caribbean. Those donations will be accepted before and after the show for ticket holders. The Brother’s Brother Foundation commits to sending 100% of disaster relief donations to those affected in the Caribbean by hurricane devastation.

The Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce has taken the lead in local relief efforts for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands in the aftermath of the multiple hurricanes. “VI-Puerto Rico Friendship Day (Virgin Islands-Puerto Rico Friendship Day) is also October 8th. This is a day set aside to honor and recognize Puerto Rican's who contributed to the social and economic growth of the territory.

Media host for the evening, Olga George of KDKA is from the Virgin Islands will make the welcome remarks to introduce Mr. Palmieri and explain the relief efforts push by the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Ms. George will also explain the significance of the VI-Puerto Rican Friendship Day coinciding with Mr. Palmieri’s visit to Pittsburgh.

The Brother’s Brother Foundation is a Pittsburgh-based international charity providing over $4 billion of medical supplies, textbooks, food, seeds, and other humanitarian supplies to people around the world in over 140 countries since 1958.

About Eddie Palmieri:

Palmieri’s parents emigrated from Ponce, Puerto Rico to New York City in 1926. Born in Spanish Harlem and raised in the Bronx, Palmieri learned to play the piano at an early age, and at 13, he joined his uncle’s orchestra, playing timbales.

Palmieri’s professional career as a pianist took off with various bands in the early 1950s including Eddie Forrester, Johnny Segui’s, and the popular Tito Rodriguez Orchestra. In 1961, Palmieri formed his own band, La Perfecta, which featured an unconventional front line of trombones rather than the trumpets customary in Latin orchestras. Palmieri perfected his arranging skills in the 1970’s releasing several impressive recordings that reflected his unorthodox approach to music. His unconventional style would once again surprise critics and fans with the 1970 release entitled “Harlem River Drive.” This recording was the first to merge what were categorized as “Black” and “Latin” music into a free-form sound that encompassed elements of salsa, funk, soul and jazz. In 1975, Palmieri won the first-ever Grammy for Best Latin Recording for The Sun of Latin Music (he’s won ten Grammys altogether to date), including two for his influential recording with Tito Puente, Obra Maestra/Masterpiece.

Recognizing Palmieri as an American icon, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, recorded two of Palmieri’s performances for its archives in 1988. Because of Palmieri’s proclivity for creating music in funk Latin style, Little Louie Vega invited him to record on Nuyorican Soul (1997), a release that became very popular in the house and underground music scenes.

In addition to the Grammys, Palmieri has received numerous honors: Eubie Blake Award (1991); Most Exciting Latin Performance, presented by the BBC in London (2002); Yale University’s Chubb Fellowship, usually reserved for international heads of state, but given to Palmieri in recognition of his work building communities through music (2002); Harlem Renaissance Award (2005); Jay McShann Lifetime Achievement Award (2008), induction into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame (2008). A year later, the Library of Congress added Palmieri’s composition “Azucar Pa’ Ti” to the National Recording Registry, which at the time only included 300 compositions documenting the history of all of recorded music history in the U.S. With his widely popular eight-and-a-half minute “Azucar Pa’ Ti” Palmieri changed the format of the recording industry, breaking the three-and-a-half minute barrier imposed by the recording industry.

In 2013, Eddie Palmieri was awarded the coveted Jazz Master award by the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). The NEA Jazz Master award is the highest honor an American Jazz artist can receive. For more about the NEA recognition, please visit: http://www.nea.gov/honors/jazz/index.html.

In 2013, Palmieri was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. For more information: http://www.latingrammy.com/en/news/2013-latin-recording-academyspecial-awards. Palmieri’s music recorded for the documentary was released as a soundtrack in November of 2013. This was Eddie’s first time recording his own new music since winning back-to-back Grammys in 2005 and 2006. The songs featured in the documentary are part of Eddie’s next full-length album, Sabiduria, was released in April 2017. Sabiduria is a fusion of Jazz, funk and Latin fused with Afroworld rhythms.

African American Cultural Center

About the August Wilson Center for African American Culture:

The August Wilson Center for African American Cultural Center is an architectural gem that offers multiple exhibition galleries, 472-seat theater for performances, dance studio, education center for classes and spaces for community programs and events. The African American Cultural Center is the non-profit organization that owns the August Wilson Center. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust operates the Center on behalf of the building owners. For tickets and information visit the African American Cultural Center pages on AWC.TRUSTARTS.ORG or call 412-456-6666. Like us on Facebook.


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