Palmieri Says It’s Not Salsa That Makes His Style Hot

Feisty and outspoken.

That’s the reputation of Latin pianist-composer Eddie Palmieri, and a phone conversation with him from his home in Queens, N.Y., proves there’s good reason for the rep.

Ask Palmieri if he calls the surging, dynamic mixture of Latin, Caribbean, jazz and world music elements that he produces “salsa”--Spanish for “sauce”--and he gets irate.

“Those rhythm patterns, which I call ‘Afro-Caribbean with extensions,’ are so sacred to me, it’s insulting to refer to something completely compelling like those as ‘sauce,’ ” said Palmieri, 56. The five-time Grammy winner makes his first Los Angeles appearance in a decade today at the John Anson Ford Theatre on a program titled, ironically, “Salsa L.A. ’92.”

“Those rhythms are nothing to laugh at. They’re something you have to practice and love everyday,” he said.

What about the current Latin scene in New York?

“It’s in a dismal state, it’s deadwood county,” he said with intensity. “There’s no respect at the record companies for the artists. The essence of the dance orchestra has been lost by the producers. The vocalists have become primary and then the rhythm section, which is what excites you in our music, and what you dance to, that goes to third position. That is a most horrifying situation, especially for the percussionists.”

Is it true, that he’s a difficult artist, a man who, despite 25 albums, is said to be a perfectionist who drives record-production budgets sky high?

“Yeah, they call me a wise guy, a guy who can’t be controlled, a real pain . . . but all I want to know is ‘What’s the deal?’ ” said Palmieri. “I say, ‘Pay me right or leave me alone,’ ” he said, then added in a softer voice, “My family has suffered because of my stands.”

At the heart of Palmieri’s apparent doggedness is the desire to remain an individual--whatever the cost. “I’m quite unorthodox in my form of writing and arranging,” he said. “I don’t come via the traditional route, and I enjoy being that way.”

Palmieri’s first and fifth Grammy winners--Best Latin Recording for 1975’s “The Sun of Latin Music” on Coco Records and Best Tropical Latin Recording for 1987’s “La Verdad” on Fania Records--spotlight the leader’s brazen, explosive piano lines, either in free-form expositions or pitted against biting brass backdrops that speak more of jazz than most Latin music. It makes sense, then, that the pianist names such jazz keyboardists as McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk as influences.

He’s also employed a number of jazzmen on his albums, including trombonist Barry Rogers, guitarist Cornell Dupree and drummer Bernard Purdie. At the Ford, Palmieri’s band will include current Phil Woods trumpeter Brian Lynch, and trombonist Conrad Herwig, known for his performances with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra. There also will be two horn players better known in Latin circles--reed man David Sanchez and trumpeter Charlie Sepulveda.

Still, Palmieri has never left his Latin musical foundation far behind. Born in New York City of Puerto Rican ancestry and into a musical family--his brother was the famed Latin pianist and bandleader Charlie Palmieri--Eddie Palmieri has been fronting his own bands since he was 14, and also has played with such Latin greats as Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente.

Palmieri’s efforts are full of rhythmic charge, particularly in the montuno sections, where, in much Latin music, the piano plays a repeating pattern and the various percussionists get an opportunity to expound. To Palmieri, these sections are the essence of his music.

“If I stopped playing montunos, I would die,” he said. “It’s the most important part of the composition, where the rhythm is synchronized and the climax is approached.”

Palmieri becomes effusive and bubbly when he discusses a new recording, “Llego la India,” which spotlights singer India Caballero--who goes by her first name and who’ll be appearing at the Ford with Palmieri on a bill that also spotlights guitarist Marcos Loya and the band Son Mayor. Palmieri was co-producer and contributed many of the compositions and all of the arrangements for India’s new SoHo Records album.

“She is a welcome wonderful oxygen cocktail, one of the most incredible talents. I think she’s going to knock your boots off,” said Palmieri, who was scheduled to appear with the singer last Friday on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

“Llego la India” touches on a number of genres, including hip-hop, Cuban and Afro-Cuban. One tune, “Yemeya,” is sung “to two saints that I respect a lot,” said India from her home in the Bronx.

She thinks Palmieri’s “a pussycat. When I first heard Eddie Palmieri’s music years ago, it touched my heart,” she said.

Palmieri may be boisterous, he may be troublesome, but he is not insincere, especially about his art. “I’m known as a hermit, because I don’t work that often,” he said. “But I don’t care. As a student of music, I’m always spending time searching, using my spirit, my being, never ceasing in my effort to expand my art. I’m quite proud of that. I love the music so much. It’s so sacred.”