RUFFIN: NOW, A JAZZ MOMENT

"Azucar" up and under

FROM HIS EARLIEST DAYS ON STAGE, PIANIST AND NEA JAZZ MASTER EDDIE PALMIERI WAS DETERMINED THAT HIS MUSIC SOUND LIKE NO ONE ELSE'S.

PALMIERI: I knew what the experience of the other bands, that if you're gonna be respected by your peers, you have to have your own signature. You have to have your own musical language, which was my compositions. And they all became quite hits on their own, from Azucar to Muneca to Café, that it was written, the lyrics, by a cousin of mine, but I put the music.  Everything I wrote was quite exciting, you know, and I certainly knew how to excite.

"Azucar" hot, under

THIS JAZZ MOMENT WITH 2013 NEA JAZZ MASTER EDDIE PALMIERI WAS PRODUCED BY THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.

Excerpt of "Azucar” composed and performed by by Eddie Palmieri, used courtesy of FANIA music and by permission of The Palmieri Organization (BMI).