Charlie Palmieri was born on November 21st 1926 in New York City. He was a true pioneer in the development of Salsa music in which his brother, Eddie, was later very successful too.
He was known as "the giant of the black and whites” for the voluptuousness of his execution and his forceful style on the keyboard, recording more than 20 albums over the course of his career. These included
Electroduro, which features
Vista Hace Fe, and
Gigante del Teclado.
Use of the flute, previously introduced in New York by Gilberto Valdés and José Fajardo, was accepted by the dance orchestras thanks to Palmieri. A lover of jazz and Cuban music, Palmieri also directed the bands of Pupi Campo, Rafael Muñoz, Noro Morales, Tito Puente, Xavier Cugat and Moncho Usera.
He lived in Puerto Rico for many years playing at hotels in San Juan, until he decided to return to New York after suffering from a heart attack. Palmieri died on September 12th 1988 in New York just before his scheduled tour to the United Kingdom and Japan in which he was to accompany the famous Cuban conga virtuoso Ramón “Mongo” Santamaría.