5 Artists Reflect on Eddie Palmieri’s Activism and Musical Legacy

With a career spanning over 60 years, Eddie Palmieri’s contribution to the Latin music canon is unparalleled. Whether it’s his intervention in jazz, salsa, funk, and even boogaloo, Palmieri is a trailblazer whose genre-busting sound managed to survive generations of shifting tastes and trends. From hits like “Azucar” to the fiercely political “Idle Hands,” his oeuvre traverses the American jazz community, encompasses the consolidation of salsa and New York City’s rise as a Latin music hub, and even touches base in the protest music world.

Beyond his innovative technical approach, Palmieri is a powerful activist in his native Bronx. His commitment to social justice is perhaps most visible in Harlem River Drive, an exuberant, funk-driven slapper of a record that censures the super-rich and demands justice for communities of color in 1970s New York. Palmieri and his band famously broke into Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 1971, performing the record for inmates and guards.

Forty-five years later, New York’s Red Bull Music Academy Festival is revisiting Harlem River Drive in the form of a free concert. To celebrate the occasion, we spoke to five Latinx musicians who have studied Palmieri’s music and extracted its influence for their own work. At a time when black and brown communities face continued attacks in the form of overpolicing, immigration raids, and racism, Palmieri’s music remains as influential as ever.

Update, 5/18/2016: Eddie Palmieri’s Harlem Drive Revisited will take place on May 21 at Richard Rogers Ampitheatre at Marcus Garvey Park. RSVP for the event here.