Eddie Palmieri flipped the script on Latin jazz

Palmieri, who won more than a half-dozen Grammy awards, founded the bands La Perfecta, La Perfecta II, and Harlem River Drive.

Palmieri was someone who, even as he channeled the traditions of the past, had his eye on the next generation.

Palmieri was one of those who introduced modernist colors to the Latin jazz spectrum.

Eduardo "Eddie" Palmieri, the Afro Cuban pianist, bandleader and composer who died Aug. 6, didn't merely bring something new to the jazz table.

You might say he completely reset the table.

His groundbreaking use of trombones, instead of violins, in the context of a charanga band — one of the key Cuban ensemble formats — was part of that.

So was his incredible pianistic virtuosity. So was his modernistic influences: McCoy Tyner, Thelonious Monk.

Palmieri, 88, a Hack