Search - Eddie Palmieri :: Justicia

Palmieri el Maestro

Canuco | New York City | 10/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A jewel of an album. This album's importance lies in Palmieri's socio-political stance. Prior to this, Palmieri's albums dealt mainly with dancing and making love. The times were changing and so was the music.



Latino's in New York like in other urban cities were undergoing enormous changes. There were calls for change on many fronts and the Latino, in finding a new voice for protest, was pushing the political envelope. Independence movements, FALN, Young Lords, Hostos College protests, were some of the changes taking place, some positive others not. Crime and drugs was rampant and the needs of the poor of the inner-city were being neglected by the political machine.

Palmieri somehow tapped the into this climate with Justicia, a wonderful musical statement that became a sort of anthem for us Latinos.



Justicia and Verdict on Judge Street were the social statements while the tracks, Lindo Yambu and Spiritual Indian reminded listeners that the Almighty was the anchor thru it all. On the tracks, Amor Ciego and Somewhere, Palmieri gave us his affirming view that love was indeed the message.



As always, the arrangements are smokers. Justicia opens the album with a fire that sets the musical and political tone for the rest of the set. Worth the price of the cd on it's own. Lindo Yambu and Spiritual Indian exceptional tunes by Palmieri and company. You owe it to yourself to at least give this a listen. In this album you get Latin music, ak (commercially as salsa) reaching musical maturity. With this release Palmieri explores serious topics that are miles away from the usual, have a good time party theme that was so prevalent in Latin music prior to this. The last 4 tracks are not really up to Palmieri's high musical standards but no matter, this cd is worth it.

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