Lehman Center for the Performing Arts opens the 33rd Season with NEA Jazz Master Eddie Palmieri & Friends, as he celebrates the world premiere of Sabiduria! Also featuring the Mambo Legends Orchestra and master flutist Dave Valentín on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.
The maestro will be joined by special invited guests, Ronnie Cuber (Baritone Saxophone), Alfredo de la Fe (Violin), Donald Harrison (Alto Saxophone & Vocals), and Joe Locke (Vibes). Also joined by invited guests, Anthony Carrillo (Bongo, Bata), Luques Curtis (Bass), Vicente “Little Johhny” Rivero (Congas, Bata) and Camilo Molina (Timbales, Bata). Produced by Lehman Center and Bob Sancho.
Palmieri, known for his charismatic power and bold innovative drive, has a musical career that spans more than 50 years as a bandleader of Salsa and Latin Jazz orchestras. The NEA Jazz Master and honorary Doctor of Music from Berklee College of Music has been awarded nine Grammy Awards. His recordings have become classics with such hits as “Azucar,” “Muñeca,” “Vamonos Pa’l Monte” and “Puerto Rico.” Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, he started piano studies at an early age and began his career as a pianist in the ‘50s with Eddie Forrester’s Orchestra. He spent a year with Tito Rodriguez before forming the legendary Conjunto La Perfecta in 1961.
Palemieri’s discography includes over 36 titles, of which nine have received Grammy Awards, including Best Latin Album for The Sun of Latin Music (1975), Unfinished Masterpiece (1976), Palo Pa’ Rumba (1984), Solito (1985) and La Verdad (1987). He received both a Grammy and a Latin Grammy award for Obra Maestra/Masterpiece (2000) with Tito Puente, the Best Latin Jazz Album Grammy Awards for Listen Here! (2006) and Simpatico (2007), a collaborative effort with trumpet master Brian Lynch. Eddie Palemieri’s Sabiduria! (Wisdom) will have its not-to-be missed World Premiere at Lehman Center for the Performing Arts on Sept. 28!
The Mambo Legends Orchestra was created in 2000 by former members of the Tito Puente Orchestra, led by John “Dandy” Rodriquez, Mitch Frohman and musically directed by Jose Madera. Famed bongocero John “Dandy” Rodriguez began performing as a teenager with Tito Rodriguez and played with Ray Barretto and Típica ’73 in the ‘70s before beginning his 27-year stint playing bongos in Tito Puente ‘s band. Bronx native Mitch Frohman was the sax and flute soloist with the Tito Puente Orchestra for 25 years and has also played and recorded with such famed Latin artists Eddie and Charlie Palmieri, Paquito D’Rivera, Chico O’Farrill and the Grammy-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Musical director, timbalero and arranger Jose Madera started playing timbales with Machito as a teenager and was the first musical director for the Machito Orchestra. Their latest release, Watch Out! ¡Ten Cuidao! (2011) was nominated for the Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album and they are featured in the soon-to-be released documentary film “For the Love of the Mambo.”
Dave Valentín, the master flutist who has toured the world as a headliner, playing with everyone from Tito Puente to McCoy Tyner, is a South Bronx native of Puerto Rican descent (born in 1952) that still makes the Bronx his home. A percussionist in his youth, his unusual technique emphasizes the percussive side of flute playing, which he began to study seriously at age 18 under Hubert Laws.
Lehman Center for the Performing Arts is on the campus of Lehman College/CUNY at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468. Lehman Center is accessible by #4 or D train to Bedford Park Blvd. and is off the Saw Mill River Parkway and the Major Deegan Expressway. Low cost on-site parking available.
