The Eddie Palmieri Experience: An All-Star Celebration

This show will also be simulcast into the Monterey Room on the Grounds.

The Eddie Palmieri Experience is a one-of-a-kind project celebrating the groundbreaking legacy of music legend Eddie Palmieri. Known as The Sun of Latin Music, Palmieri revolutionized salsa and Latin jazz, recording more than 40 albums, winning 10 Grammy Awards, and performing across the globe until his passing in August 2025 at the age of 88.

In Palmieri’s signature fashion, this project blends the complex rhythms of Afro-Caribbean percussion with exciting arrangements and powerful improvisation, showcasing Palmieri’s revolutionary sound for lifelong fans and new listeners alike.

The Eddie Palmieri Experience has a deep connection to the source, featuring stellar musicians who have performed and recorded with Palmieri’s ensembles. Each band member brings an authentic understanding of Palmieri’s unique musical language, from his fearless arrangements to the electrifying interplay between the rhythm section, horns, and vocals.

The group’s musical directors, saxophonist Louis Fouché and bassist Luques Curtis, are longtime Palmieri collaborators who worked closely with him as producers and arrangers during the final years of his career. Under their direction, the ensemble performs Palmieri’s music spanning the different eras of his career in salsa and Latin jazz, including classics such as “Azúcar Pa’ Ti,” “Vámonos Pa’l Monte,” and “Palmas,” along with deeper cuts from his extensive repertoire of musical masterpieces.

This all-star ensemble of Palmieri alumni includes Hermán Olivera on lead vocals; Brian Lynch on trumpet; Conrad Herwig and Jimmy Bosch on trombones; Camilo Molina on timbales; Vicente “Little Johnny” Rivero on congas; José Claussell on bongos and cowbell; and Palmieri’s protégé on piano, 2025 Grammy winner Zaccai Curtis.

Collectively, these Palmieri alumni represent decades of artistic achievement, earning Grammy, Emmy, and Peabody Awards while building distinguished careers as performers, composers, producers, arrangers, educators, and bandleaders. Along the way, they have performed and recorded with many of the most influential artists and ensembles in jazz, salsa, Latin jazz, and contemporary music. Together, they bring a wealth of experience as torchbearers of Afro-Caribbean musical traditions.

More than a tribute, this project is a celebration, honoring the global impact of one of music’s most influential architects while capturing the undeniable energy of the New York Latin music scene that he helped shape. Whether performing at festivals, clubs, or dance halls, The Eddie Palmieri Experience takes audiences on an unforgettable journey that keeps Palmieri’s legacy alive and most certainly will make you dance!

Alain Pérez is a talented musician and composer who has worked with major figures in music, such as Irakere, Van Van, Isaac Delgado, Celia Cruz, Paco de Lucía, and Diego “El Cigala.” His musical training began at home with his father, composer Gradelio Pérez, and continued at the Manuel Saumell Conservatory of Music and the National School of Art in Cuba. In 1996, he joined Isaac Delgado’s band and later moved to Spain, where he settled after participating in the project “África-Cuba-Cai” with Enrique Morente. His collaboration with Paco de Lucía in the “Cositas Buenas” project brought him international recognition. In 2002, he won the First SGAE Latin Jazz Prize, and in 2006, he released his musical project with the album En el Aire.

David Sánchez, the GRAMMY Award-winning saxophonist, composer, and educator from Puerto Rico, is recognized worldwide as one of the finest saxophonists and bandleaders of his generation. His mastery of the instrument is undeniable, and his sound is unmistakable. His music draws deeply from Afro-Caribbean and Pan-African traditions, blending them seamlessly with jazz. His acclaimed and multi-nominated recordings include Obsesión, Melaza, Coral, and Carib. Sánchez has performed and recorded with legends such as Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Palmieri, Kenny Barron, Charlie Haden, Roy Hargrove, Roy Haynes, Pat Metheny, and Elvin Jones. He’s a member of the prestigious SFJAZZ Collective, representing the SFJAZZ organization. He is also a dedicated educator, an active faculty member in the RJAM program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Bassist and composer Carlos Henriquez was born in 1979 in the Bronx, New York. He took up the bass while enrolled in The Juilliard School’s Music Advancement Program. At LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Henriquez participated in the LaGuardia Concert Jazz Ensemble which went on to win first place in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition. In 1998, Henriquez joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, touring the world and playing on more than 25 albums. He has performed with diverse artists including Chucho Valdés, Paco De Lucía, Tito Puente, the Marsalis Family, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Lenny Kravitz, and Marc Anthony. He has been a member of the music faculty at Northwestern University School of Music since 2008 and, in 2010, served as musical director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s cultural exchange with the Cuban Institute of Music with Chucho Valdés. He issued his debut album as a leader, The Bronx Pyramid, in 2015 on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records; his Grammy-nominated release The South Bronx Story in 2022; and his latest album, A Nuyorican Tale, was released in 2023.

Saxophonist and composer Melissa Aldana was born in Santiago, Chile and grew up in a musical family. Both her father and grandfather were saxophonists and she took up the instrument at age six under her father Marcos’ tutelage. Aldana began on alto, influenced by artists such as Charlie Parker and Cannonball Adderley, but switched to tenor upon first hearing the music of Sonny Rollins. She performed in Santiago jazz clubs in her early teens and was invited by pianist Danilo Pérez to play at the Panama Jazz Festival in 2005. Aldana moved to the U.S. to attend the Berklee College of Music, and the year after graduating she released her first album Free Fall on Greg Osby’s Inner Circle label in 2010, followed by Second Cycle in 2012. In 2013, at age 24, she became the first female instrumentalist and the first South American musician to win the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, in which her father had been a semi-finalist in 1991. Aldana began releasing her own leader albums on Blue Note in 2022 with 12 Stars followed by 2024’s Echoes Of The Inner Prophet. 2026’s Filin is a ballads album of songs drawn from Cuba’s Filin music tradition featuring Aldana leading a quartet with Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Peter Washington, and Kush Abadey.

Hermán Olivera is a world-renowned salsa vocalist and sonero, a master of improvised vocal phrasing and storytelling rooted in Afro-Caribbean musical traditions. Recognized as “El Sonero del Siglo XXI” and “La Voz del Caribe,” he has performed with many of the genre’s most respected artists and ensembles. His dynamic stage presence and unmistakable voice have made him a favorite among dancers and listeners alike. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 1994.

Zaccai Curtis is a Grammy-winning pianist whose music bridges jazz and Afro-Caribbean traditions with a forward-looking artistic vision. Known for his prodigious technique and lyrical style of improvisation, he has emerged as one of the leading voices of his generation on the piano. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 2016.

Louis Fouché (musical director) is an acclaimed saxophonist whose distinctive blues-rooted sound was shaped by his formative musical experiences in New Orleans. His wide-ranging career has carried him across jazz, Afro-Caribbean music, soul, and pop music. From 2017 until the show’s finale in 2026, he was a member of the house band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 2010.

Luques Curtis (musical co-director) is a Grammy-winning bassist known for his rich sound, deep command of jazz and Afro-Caribbean music, and versatility across genre-bending projects. As a bandleader, composer, and sought-after collaborator, he has built a reputation for moving seamlessly between traditional and modern musical settings. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 2006.

Brian Lynch is a multi-Grammy-winning trumpeter recognized as one of the defining trumpet voices of his generation in jazz and Afro-Caribbean music. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he has made timeless contributions as a performer, composer, and recording artist. His powerful sound, remarkable range, and improvisational command have earned him international acclaim. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 1987.

Conrad Herwig is a renowned trombonist whose virtuosic technique and artistic vision have established him among the foremost trombonists in jazz and Afro-Caribbean music. A prolific recording artist, he is known for melding jazz classics into Afro-Caribbean contexts, bringing creativity and sophistication to every musical setting. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 1987.

Jimmy Bosch is a celebrated trombonist known as “El Trombón Criollo” and widely regarded as one of the leading voices in salsa music. His powerful sound, passionate improvisations, and deep connection to the music’s roots have made him a beloved figure around the world. As both a bandleader and sideman, he has helped shape the sound of salsa for decades. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 2000.

Vicente “Little Johnny” Rivero is a veteran multi-percussionist whose signature sound and artistry have made him one of the most respected percussionists in salsa music. His career spans some of the most important salsa ensembles in Puerto Rico and New York. Known for his musicality, taste, and improvisational instincts, he has been an important contributor to the genre for decades. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 2000.

José Claussell is a master multi-percussionist and drummer known for his unique and highly personal style and unmistakable presence as a performer. Over several decades, he has developed a musical identity that is instantly recognizable to musicians and audiences alike. His creativity, spontaneity, and rhythmic imagination have made him a valued collaborator across a wide range of musical settings. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 1988.

Camilo Molina is a Grammy-winning multi-percussionist and drummer whose work is deeply rooted in the folkloric traditions of Puerto Rico and Cuba. Known for his versatility across contemporary Afro-Caribbean genres, he brings both historical knowledge and modern creativity to his performances. His dynamic approach and extensive technique have made him a highly respected figure among today’s percussionists. He began collaborating with Eddie Palmieri in 2013.