Eddie Palmieri on the influence of Arsenio Rodriguez
Pa'Huele up under
A STUDENT OF MUSICAL HISTORY, NEA JAZZ MASTER EDDIE PALMIERI KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF LATIN JAZZ. ONE OF HIS GREATEST INFLUENCES WAS THE DYNAMIC CUBAN INNOVATOR, ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ.
PALMIERI: Arsenio Rodriguez was to Cuban music as Claude Debussy was to classical music. Before or after Claude Debussy with the chordal changes, Arsenio with the whole movement in Cuba. And that’s where the conjuntos came in. Conjuntos to us meant…without saxophones. Just trumpets. You had timbalas, conga, bongo, bass, piano, vocal, three trumpets. But it was Arsenio who changed it all in Cuba, and after that it became history.
Pa'Huele hot and under
RUFFIN: THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH PIANIST AND BANDLEADER EDDIE PALMIERI WAS PRODUCED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.
Excerpt of "Pa'Huele" composed by Arsenio Rodriguez and performed by Eddie Palmieri on the album, El Virtuoso: A Man and His Music, used courtesy of Fania Records and by permission of Peer Music (BMI)