Charlie Palmieri – Las Negritas De Carnaval
Charlie Palmieri – Taxi Driver
Charlie Palmieri – Swing Y Son
Recently picked up this one and realized I’ve never owned a record from Charlie Palmieri. I generally don’t come around too many of them, but it seems I’ve always favored Eddie. Aside from an intriguing cover, this one seemed like a nice one to cop, especially with a line-up that features Roberto Roena, Tito Puente, Cachao and Cortijo. Palmieri puts the “electro” in Electro Duro by playing what sounds like one of those bizarro organs that’s in tons of 1970s cumbia tracks. It’s not a sound you hear with Salsa Dura, at times it sounds gimmicky, at times it seems to strangely fit, especially on “Swing Y Son” and “Las Negritas De Carnaval” where the sound of that organ cuts through the rhythm. In fact, I kinda wish there had been more of that organ on “The Taxi Driver,” a latin funk track that has B-Boy written all over it, if not for a slightly wonky trumpet part that I find distracting. Worth a listen and worth more than a few spins.
Cheers,
Michael