Eddie Palmieri (born December 15, 1936) is a Grammy Award-winning pianist, bandleader, musician, and composer of Puerto Rican ancestry. He is the founder of the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.

Palmieri’s parents moved to New York from Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1926, and settled in the South Bronx, a largely Hispanic neighborhood. There, he and his elder brother, Charlie Palmieri, were born. He accompanied Charlie and participated in many talent contests when he was eight years old.

Palmieri continued his education in the city’s public school system where he was constantly exposed to music, specifically jazz. He took piano lessons and performed at Carnegie Hall when he was 11 years old. His main influences were Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner. Inspired by his older brother, he was determined to someday form his own band – something he achieved in 1950, when he was fourteen years old. During the 1950s, Palmieri played in various bands, including Tito Rodríguez‘s. In 1961, Palmieri founded the band Conjunto La Perfecta, which featured singer Ismael Quintana. Apart from the big bands, at the beginning of the decade the Charanga was the Latin dance craze. Essential to the Charanga style is the five key wooden flute and at least two violins. Palmieri decided to replace the violins with two trombones for a heavier sound.

Two key elements to the ‘Palmieri’ sound were trombonists Barry Rogers (who was very influential to the fourth chords sound that Palmieri is known for) and Brazilian-born José Rodrígues. Together they were responsible for many of the ‘head’ arrangements, mambos and moñas that the band recorded. George Castro (flute), Manny Oquendo (bongó and timbales), Tommy López (conga) and Dave Pérez (bass) rounded out the group. To this day, the group is known as one of the swingingest, most danceable, innovative and influential groups of that period.

Palmieri experimented by including a touch of jazz in his recordings, and incorporating a popular Cuban rhythm known as mozambique. Lo Que Traigo Es Sabroso (What I Bring is Saucy) and Mozambique are just two examples of his use of this rhythm. Seeking a bigger and punchier sound, Palmieri disbanded the band in 1968.