AMG Review of Sun of Latin Music [Fania]

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

Eddie Palmieri is perhaps the most difficult of all Latin artists to sum up in a compilation -- even a 30-track, double-disc set like The Sun of Latin Music, comprised of tracks from the Alegre, Tico, Coco, Intersong, and Fania labels. Compilation producer Ernesto Lechner writes enthusiastically in his liner notes that "this compilation of classic tunes from the '60s, '70s, and '80s only begins to skim the surface of Palmieri's prodigious output. It is meant to act as a comprehensive introduction...." These assertions are both correct. Palmieri has recorded such an astonishing variety of charangas, salsas, Afro-Cuban sons, boleros, and rhumbas, and forged his own ambitious brand of Latin jazz, that he's impossible to peg. But then, what's on display here is the brand -- Palmieri himself. The set begins in 1962 with his "trombanga" (charanga with trombones) band La Perfecta and their debut album of the same name. The theme song is chosen here, and from the ubiquitous clave rhythmic figure and Ismael Quintana's vocals, one can already surmise why this recording is still regarded as vital in the 21st century. The disc moves through various changes with this band through 1967, until he broke up that band and went off on his own. This disc also includes the dance classic "Azúcar," the title track -- and monster club hit -- that offered the real hardcore foundation for salsa in New York, and is regarded as the music's authentic anthem. Palmieri claims in the liner notes that this track was a hit before he ever recorded it -- the dancers would be waiting for it as the set closer in his appearances.

Disc one also includes the big changeup in a pair of tunes recorded with Cal Tjader (it was the second of two collaborations from the 1960s -- the other, El Sonido Nuevo: The New Soul Sound on Verve, had Tjader's name listed first). There is the beautiful ballad "We've Loved Before," an interpretation of a tune by Henry Mancini, and "Resemblance," a kicking Latin soul-jazz number. Disc two commences with "Aye Que Rico," a single recorded in 1968 during the boogaloo craze that appeared on the album Champagne. Palmieri was never really a fan of the genre, but this jam is positively infectious, with Quintana on vocals and the mighty Cachao holding down the bass chair. The burning Afro-Cuban salsa of the title track from 1970's Justicia features one of Quintana's finest vocal performances and the smoking percussion of the mighty conguero Chano Pozo. Palmieri's piano solo is pure poetic brutality to boot. Interestingly, this is followed by a whopping three tracks from yet another necessary Palmieri album, Superimposition from the same year. These cuts -- from the smoking heat of Afro-Cuban son on "La Malanga" to the laid-back salsa groove in "Pa Huele" (a cover of a tune by Arsenio Rodríguez) to the sultry Latin jazz number "Ice Cream" -- showcase three entirely different personas of Palmieri. There are a number of cuts from his first breakthrough (to the Anglos) album, The Sun of Latin Music recorded in 1971, and the disc follows through all the way to 1987 with the title track from The Truth -- La Verdad, a big-band Latin jazz album that included vocalists Wisón Torres, Jr. and Jerry Medina, conguero Giovanni Hidalgo, and trumpet player Charlie Sepulveda, to name a few. If ever an artist deserved a box set -- considering he's continued to record into the 21st century -- Palmieri is it. For now, this will do quite nicely.