The Fania label has asked me to share with you a few memorable anecdotes that took place during the recording sessions of this remarkable album by Eddie Palmieri.

As an introduction, let me specify that Mr. Eddie Palmieri was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents. He is considered to be one of the greatest artists in contemporary Latin music.

Working in New York as a producer for Tico and Alegre - the Latin division of Roulette Records - I had the opportunity of participating in the recording sessions for this marvelous album entitled Vámonos Pa’l Monte. At the time, Eddie Palmieri was already recognized as a superb composer, pianist, arranger and bandleader - a musical genius who was clearly a good decade ahead of his time.

What impressed me the most about his arrangements was Eddie's tendency to combine an original melody with capricious harmonies filled with dissonant chords. The majority of his listeners could not understand this sound - but they loved it all the same.

In 1970, the Tico label entrusted me with the production of a new Palmieri album. We began the planning stages in early September. Eddie and I met a number of times, and decided to begin recording on September 24.

It was not uncommon for Eddie to arrive in the studio without any written arrangements of the songs that he was planning to record. He would ask the musicians to follow him, count a beat, and start to perform a melody on the piano. Little by little, the musicians would begin to follow him with their respective instruments. Eddie's spirit was contagious, and his players were first rate. Soon enough, a well calibrated orchestra was performing with the kind of soulful feeling that Palmieri had projected through his own playing.

Once, I was waiting for Eddie in the studio when a company that rented out musical instruments showed up and unloaded four pianos. Eddie had ordered four different instruments so that he could play all of them and choose the one that sounded the best. You can imagine the expression on the accountant's face when he got the bill. But Eddie sold a lot of records, and the label was forced to forgive him these eccentricities.

Eddie used to tape many takes of the same tune. When he didn't like them, he would go on recording. After a short break, we would return to the studio and listen to the different takes of a song. In the end, Eddie would always pick the first one.

One day during these sessions, we were all waiting for Eddie to show up at the studio, when he called to let me know that he was unable to leave the hotel where he had spent the night. A girl who was staying there had slit her wrists, and the police was questioning the guests. Needless to say, the session was postponed until the following day.

Every time we were done recording a song, Eddie would stand right next to a gigantic speaker and tell me to turn up the volume, so that he could listen to the finished take. The volume on those speakers was deafening.

It's been over 30 years since we recorded this album, and I will always remember Eddie as a man of a nervous disposition who spoke very quickly and had a big heart. I will never forget the days when we created this music, at the "A" studio of the A&R Recording Studios, together with our talented sound engineer, my good friend Fred Weinberg.





Written by Miguel Estivill
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