Eddie Palmieri

Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936), is a Grammy Award award winning Puerto Rican American pianist, bandleader and musician, best known for combining jazz piano and instrumental solos with Latin rhythms. Palmieri's parents immigrated to New York from Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1926 and settled down in Spanish Harlem, a Hispanic neighborhood in Manhattan. Both he and his older brother, the late Charlie Palmieri, were born in New York City. When he was only 8 years old, he would musically accompany Charlie and together they entered and participated in many talent contests.

Palmieri attended the city's public school system and here was constantly exposed to music, specifically jazz. He took piano lessons for and performed at Carnegie Hall when he was 11 years old. His biggest piano influences were Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner. He was inspired by his older brother and was determined to someday form his own band - something he achieved in 1950, when he was just 14. During the 1950s, Palmieri played in various bands, including Tito Rodriguez's.