Listen Here! 50 Years of Eddie Palmieri!

ABSOLUT VODKA will add a special “spirit” to the celebration concert of Eddie Palmieri, legendary Latin jazz composer with sponsorship of this vivacious performer. The pianist and bandleader will return triumphantly to Aaron Davis Hall (ADH) for the first New York live performance of his current release Listen Here! Special guest artists will join Palmieri for two cross-cultural and cross-generational concert nights to celebrate his astounding legacy, his latest compositions, and his own birthday. ABSOLUT VODKA is the Official Spirit of the concert that is a production of The Multicultural Music Group and also sponsored by American Airlines, the Official Airline of Aaron Davis Hall.

The star-studded event will take place on December 2 & 3, 2005 at Aaron Davis Hall, Harlem’s center for the performing arts, where Palmieri will celebrate his musical career that spans 50 amazing years during which he has revolutionized the sound of Latin music.

“These concerts will be two historic occasions that will have people dancing in their seats! as an amazing array of all-star musicians celebrate the sounds and cultures that created the great genres of salsa and Latin Jazz. I am truly grateful to be the honoree and band leader for this wonderful celebration,” Palmieri said.

“It is a privilege for ABSOLUT VODKA to celebrate the legendary career and birthday of Mr. Eddie Palmieri. With the exceptional reunion of the masters of Latin and Afro-Caribbean rhythms, this will be a must-see event” said Matt Aeppli, Vice President of Marketing for The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. “We’ve always felt we added a certain special spirit to any number of cultural occasions, and with something as noteworthy as this, we are happy to be part of the celebration.”

Two magical concert nights, Afro Caribbean Jazz Night on Friday, December 2, 2005 and Salsa & Mambo Night on Saturday, December 3, 2005, will showcase Palmieri’s stylistically diverse new album, Listen Here!, and the exciting rhythms that have consolidated him as an international Latin music icon. He will be reunited with an eclectic blend of jazz luminaries as bassists Christian McBride and John Benitez, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, drummer Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez, master conguero Giovanni Hidalgo, trombonists Jimmy Bosch and Conrad Herwig, Cuban tres guitar master Nelson Gonzalez, trumpeter Brian Lynch, singer Herman Olivera, percussionist Little Johnny Rivero, and performing with Eddie for the first time in the U.S. since 2002, Eddie’s original vocalist, Ismael Quintana.