Eddie Palmieri at Yoshi's 8-26-04

[RainyDay]

I seem to underwhelm everyone here with my live performance commentary but I'll give it another go.

There is still tomorrow to catch Palmieri and his sizzling band at Yoshi's. I caught him last year, and like last year, he opened with a long, elegant piano solo. He plays so wonderfully. He flows through up tempo, ballads, into salsa, before ending the solo. This is actually my favorite part of the set. The piano is probably my favorite instrument and it is such a joy to see someone who can play as well as Palmieri.

The 8-piece band (nine if you include the vocalist) opens up with a song that just singes your eyebrows. He had two trombones, guest trombone Jimmy Bosch, was remarkable. I love that he has a woman in the band, so rare in jazz even today. She plays flute and is terrific. The vocalist evoked Latin singers from another era. I felt like I had been transported in a time machine or something. They played one real ballad, but mostly they had everyone jumping around in their chairs.

If you are in the neighborhood shows on Sunday are at 2PM and 8PM.

Band Lineup:

Eddie Palmieri - Piano

Jimmy Bosch - Trombone

Doug Beavers - Trombone

Karen Joseph - Flute

Eddie Resto - Bass

George Delgado - Congas

John Rodriguez - Bongos

Jose Claussell - Timbales

Herman Olivera - Vocals

Edited August 29, 2004 by RainyDay