Grammy®-Award Winner Eddie Palmieri Brings Latin Jazz to the Kimmel Center’s Mellon Jazz Fridays Sharing a Co-bill with Poncho Sanchez Band on March 2
February 16, 2007
Free Artist Chat at 6:15pm to Discuss the "State of Jazz in Philadelphia" in the Merck Arts Education Center with Mervon Mehta; AAJ Founder Michael Ricci; WRTI’s Jeff Duperon; West Oak Lane Jazz Curators Warren Oree and Graziella D’Amelio; and University of the Arts’ Richard Lawn
One of the foremost Latin pianists of the last half-century, Eddie Palmieri brings Latin Jazz to the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall, sharing a co-bill with Poncho Sanchez on Friday, March 2 at 8pm. Palmieri has continually revolutionized Latin Jazz with his deft, improvisational skills, fusing salsa with R&B, pop, rock, Spanish vocals and jazz improvisations. The 2007 recipient of his eighth Grammy®-Award for Simpatico, a Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project, Eddie Palmieri also won the 2006 Grammy-Award for Listen Here! in the Best Latin Jazz Album category. Grammy®-Award winner Poncho Sanchez will also perform with his seasoned ensemble a mixture of traditional tropical Latin fare, jazz standards, R&B and funk. A natural storyteller on stage, Sanchez’s performance will include hits from the recent 2006 release Do It!
This is the ninth concert in the Kimmel Center’s Mellon Jazz series. The next concert in this series explores the Roots of Jazz with Crescent City Gospel led by trombonist Wycliffe Gordon on Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 7:30pm.
Tickets for Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz and Poncho Sanchez Band are priced at $34, $43, $48, and $56 and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office, open daily from 10am to 6am and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-893-5883.
A limited number of $10 tickets are available for every Kimmel Center Presents performance at the Kimmel Center. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office beginning 2.5 hours prior to curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.
Eddie Palmieri has been a powerhouse of brilliance and sound that has stirred audiences for over 50 years. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Eddie Palmieri began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late salsa legend and pianist Charlie Palmieri. His ability to fuse the rhythms of his Puerto Rican heritage with the jazz influences of Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner first earmarked his success in the 1950s and 60s while playing at New York’s Palladium Ballroom. Gathering inspiration from Machito, Tito Rodriguez, Tito Puente and other stars of Manhattan’s Palladium, Palmieri made his professional debut with Johnny Sequi’s orchestra in 1955. In 1973, he won the Grammy® Award’s first tropical music accolade, later returning to his dancehall roots before coming back to Latin jazz full force with the 1994 recording of Palmas. That year, he helped convince NARAS to establish the Latin Grammy.
About a decade ago, Palmieri formed the Afro-Caribbean Jazz Octet with trumpeter Brian Lynch, trombonist Conrad Herwig, and alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, and presented his take on instrumental Latin Jazz, first documented on the Grammy® nominated album Palmas. The 2006 release of Grammy® Award winner Listen Here!, similarly includes Palmieri’s assemblage of an all-star jazz cohort and guest of soloists including Michael Brecker, Regina Carter, Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, David Sanchez, among others. In 2002, Yale University awarded Palmieri the Chubb Fellowship, an award usually reserved for international heads of state, but given to him in recognition of his work in building communities through music. The 1998 Heineken Jazz Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico, paid tribute to his contributions as a bandleader, bestowing him an honorary doctorate degree from the Berklee College of Music. He was awarded the Eubie Blake Award by Dr. Billy Taylor in 1991 and he is among the few Latin musicians recognized by the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico and the New York State Assembly.
Poncho Sanchez’s life’s story has become a well-known part of Latin jazz lore. He was born in Texas on October 30, 1951 into a large Mexican-American family but grew up in the Los Angeles area, where he was weaned on a broad range of Latin and non-Latin popular music. Inspired by the conga playing of Cuban great Mongo Santamaria, he honed his skills as a percussionist and broke into the limelight at the age of 23 when he joined vibraphonist Cal Tjader’s famed Latin jazz ensemble in 1975. Poncho performed with him until Tjader’s untimely death in 1982. A year later, he began his unprecedented 23-year relationship with Concord Records, which produced two dozen recordings; received a Grammy® Award and several Grammy® nominations.
Over the years, Sanchez has hand-picked guest artists who have had a special role in shaping his growth as a musician, from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard and saxophonist Eddie Harris, to Latin jazz patriarch Tito Puente, conga titan Mongo Santamaria and the late Ray Charles. The guests invited to participate on Do It! have been among Sanchez’s favorites for decades. The popular album, Do It! is distinct, even by Sanchez’s high standards. It features on two tracks the entire nine member Tower of Power, an iconic group that has become a high-octane symbol of the funk era of the 1970s. Another two tracks boast the presence of an equally legendary musician, South African Hugh Masekela.
Kimmel Center Presents' 2006/2007 season is supported by: Mellon Financial Corporation, University of Pennsylvania Health System, National Endowment for the Arts, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, ARC Wheeler, The William Penn Foundation, The Wachovia Foundation, Verizon Foundation, The Presser Foundation, Philadelphia Music Project and Dance Advance, Initiatives of The Pew Charitable Trust administered by The University of the Arts. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. Toyota is the Official Vehicle of Kimmel Center Presents Jazz and World Pop programming. NBC-10 is a Media Partner for Kimmel Center Presents. The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, and Philly.com are media sponsors for the Great Orchestras on Tour series.
FREE AT THE KIMMEL events are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program supported by a generous grant from Wachovia Foundation.
KIMMEL CENTER PRESENTS
Friday, March 2, 2007 | 8pm
Verizon Hall
Mellon Jazz Fridays
Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz
Eddie Palmieri, Leader, piano
Brian Lynch, trumpet
Yosvany Terry, alto saxophone, shekere
Jose Claussell, timbales
Vicente "Little Johnny" Rivero, congas
Orlando Vega, bongo
Luques Curtis, bass
Poncho Sanchez Band
Poncho Sanchez, congas
David Torres, piano and musical director
George Ortiz, timbales
Joey De León, bongos and percussion
Tony Banda, bass
Javier Vergara, saxophones and flute
Ron Blake, trumpet and flugelhorn
Francisco Torres, trombone
FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENT
Friday, March 2, 2007 | 6:15pm
Merck Arts Education Center
Artist Chat: Philly and the State of Jazz
Join us for a Free Artist Chat as we explore the state of Jazz in Philly, a city with deep jazz roots. All About Jazz (www.allaboutjazz.com) Founder and Publisher Michael Ricci will demonstrate the regional and national capabilities of his acclaimed web site, with a discussion about where jazz has been in Philadelphia and where it might be headed with Rick Lawn, University of the Arts Dean of the College of Performing Arts; Maureen Malloy and/or Jeff Duperon from WRTI-FM; West Oak Lane Jazz Festival founders and organizers Warren Oree and Graziella D’Amelio; all led by Kimmel Center VP of programming Mervon Mehta. This event takes place prior to the Mellon Jazz Fridays performance at 8pm in Verizon Hall with Eddie Palmieri and Poncho Sanchez.
UPCOMING FREE AT THE KIMMEL EVENTS:
Saturday, March 3, 2007 | 11am
Commonwealth Plaza Stage- PNC Grow Up Great
Rebecca Frezza
Rebecca Frezza brings folksy, melodic tunes to the Commonwealth Plaza stage for kids and the whole family to enjoy. Her newly released CD Tall and Small has won the NAPPA Gold and iParenting Media Awards. Perfect for ages one to four.
Sunday, March 4, 2007 | 1:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza Stage
Kinski
Kinski ensemble explores Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Tierkreis, 12 pieces based on the signs of the Zodiac. Saxophone, clarinet, accordion, vibraphone, electric bass and guitar members improvise on stage together to then transition into the colors and textures of the group.
Sunday, March 4, 2007 | Post-concert
Verizon Hall
Organ Postlude
Join us for an organ postlude in Verizon Hall following Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig ticketed performance.
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