Killer.
Fire Music, salsa-style. Dazzling, in-your-face Latin jazz from 1971, steeped in Afro-Cuban tradition, blazing with political militancy. Palmieri’s signature hard trombone sound is augmented with baritone saxophone, organ, trap drums and electric piano, and Monk and Tyner come more to the fore in his own playing.
According to percussionist Bobby Sanabria, the opener La Libertad Lógico was ‘an anthem for young Puerto Ricans like me.’ Drummer Nicky Marrero says that Palmieri’s use of the snare drum was designed to emulate a machine gun. Freedom is the only sensible option, declares this terrific music. Revolt.
Ismael Quintana recalls that the title track, ‘of all the songs I recorded with Eddie Palmieri, this has to be the most influential. That song was played and requested everywhere we would go in Latin America… The lyrics were about trying to cope with the injustices in the world. It meant let’s get out of this crazy mess and so much negativity that we live in, and let’s go to the mountains.’
Ronnie Cuber and Charlie Palmieri are here… Quintana and Marrero… and Chocolate Armenteros, one of the greatest trumpeters ever to walk the earth.
A classic. Hotly recommended.