Charlie Palmieri
| Charlie Palmieri | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Carlos Manuel Palmieri |
| Also known as | "The Giant of the Keyboards" |
| Born | November 21, 1927 New York City, New York |
| Died | September 12, 1988 (aged 60) New York City, New York |
| Genres | Salsa |
| Occupation(s) | Bandleader, musical director |
| Instruments | piano |
 You may listen to Charlie Palmieri's "Louie's Boogaloo" on YouTube
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Carlos Manual "Charlie" Palmieri (November 21, 1927 – September 12, 1988) was a renowned bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as the "Giant of the Keyboards".
Palmieri's parents migrated to New York from Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1926 and settled down in the South Bronx where Palmieri was born. As a child, Palmieri taught himself to play the piano by ear. He attended the public school system. At age 7, his father enrolled him at The Juilliard School, where he took piano lessons. By the time Palmieri was 14 years old, he and his 5-year-old brother, Eddie, participated in many talent contests, often winning prizes. It was at this time that his godfather introduced him to the music of the Latin bands - an experience which inspired him to become a musician.
In 1943, when still only 16 years old and still in high school, he made his professional debut as a piano player for the Osario Selasie Band. He graduated from high school in 1946, and immediately went to play for various bands. He made his recording debut with the song "Se Va La Rumba" as a member of the Rafael Muñiz Band.
In October 1947, Tito Puente, the musical director of the Fernando Álvarez Band, was impressed with Palmieri and hired him to play for his band at the Copacabana Club; here he played with Tito until 1953 and during the 1950s he played with various bands. Besides having played with Tito Puente, he played with Pupi Campo's Band and worked on Jack Paar's CBS daytime television show. Palmieri also formed a couple of bands that performed at the Palladium Ballroom - these were however short-lived because of a lack of work. During this time, he also worked as an accompanist for other bands.
Palmieri worked for several years in Chicago, but returned to New York and formed a band called "Charanga La Duboney". While performing at the Monte Carlo Ballroom, Palmieri heard a young man by the name of Johnny Pacheco playing the flute - the playing so impressed him that he hired him on the spot. The mixture of Pacheco's flute with the strings of the violins in Palmieri's band led to the 1960s Charanga craze in the United States. Palmieri was signed by the United Artists Record company and had several Latino hits. Palmieri did however suffer various setbacks - first Pacheco left the band and then United Artists cancelled his contract because of a conflict of interest with their other recording star, Tito Rodríguez. This led to Palmieri's signing with the Alegre Records label and with whom he had two best selling "hits" with "Como Bailan La Pachanga" and "La Pachanga Se Baila Así".
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Wikipedia