Latin Jazz Pianist Eddie Palmieri to Perform

(SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.) - Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present the Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Band on April 3, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. The performance is part of the Journeys in Jazz Series sponsored by Infiniti and is presented with support from Alice and David Olsan with additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Single tickets are available for $42 from the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts' Web site at www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org or the box office at (480) 994-ARTS (2787).

One of the greatest Latin pianists of the last half century, Eddie Palmieri merges the rhythms of his Puerto Rican heritage with the seminal jazz of Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner. His extraordinary career spans 50 years as a leader of salsa and Latin jazz orchestras and includes nine Grammy Awards and more than 30 albums. Born in Spanish Harlem in 1936, Palmieri began piano studies at an early age, as did his celebrated older brother, the late salsa legend and pianist Charlie Palmieri. He began his professional career as a pianist in the early 1950s with Eddie Forrester's Orchestra and later performed with Johnny Segui's band and the Tito Rodriguez Orchestra. In 1961, Palmieri formed his own band, the legendary Conjunto La Perfecta, which featured a trombone section (led by the late Barry Rogers) in place of trumpets, something that had been rarely done in Latin music, demonstrating the early stages of Palmieri's unconventional orchestration. The group was known as "the band with the crazy roaring elephants" for its unique configuration of two trombones, flute, percussion, bass and vocals. With an infectious and soaring sound, Palmieri's band soon joined the ranks of Machito, Tito Rodriguez and the other major Latin orchestras of the day.

Palmieri's influences include not only his older brother Charlie but Jesus Lopez, Chapotin, Lili Martinez and other Cuban players of the 1940s, as well as jazz luminaries Art Tatum, Bobby Timmons, Bill Evans, Horace Silver, Bud Powell, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. Equally important were influences derived from Palmieri's curiosity and incessant search to unearth his family's roots and to seek out the origins of the music that profoundly inspired him. Palmieri's solid interpretation of Afro-Caribbean music and its confluence with jazz are evident in his astute arranging skills, which assemble those components in dramatic and compelling compositions.

Palmieri's accomplishments have taken him throughout Europe, Japan and Latin America, showcasing his assemblage of seasoned musicians and kaleidoscope of musical styles.

LOCATION AND PARKING
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is located at 7380 East Second Street in downtown Scottsdale, four blocks south of Indian School Road and three blocks east of Scottsdale Road The amphitheater is located on the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall at 75th Street and Main Street. Free parking is available in the public parking garage located to the west of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and directly behind Los Olivos restaurant on Wells Fargo Avenue. Additional free parking is available at the Old Town Parking Corral at East Second Street and Brown Avenue and at the Civic Center Library parking garage located on Drinkwater Boulevard at East Second Street. Theater 4301 is located in the Galleria Corporate Centre at 4301 Scottsdale Road on the corner of Drinkwater Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in downtown Scottsdale, one block east of Scottsdale Road Free parking is available in the Galleria Corporate Centre parking garage.

ACCESSIBILITY
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts offers performance accommodations to enhance our audience members' experience, including: American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation or live audio description with two weeks advance notice. Assisted listening devices and wheelchair seating are always available. Visit the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts' Web site at www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org or contact the box office at (480) 994-ARTS [TDD: (480) 874-4694] for further details. Please inquire about services when ordering tickets.

GROUP DISCOUNTS
A $3 discount per ticket is available for groups of 15 or more (subject to restriction and limitation). Call (480) 874-4657 for more information.

STUDENT DISCOUNTS
Students with valid student identification may purchase half-price tickets (subject to availability; limit one per student) 72 hours before any performance at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts box office. Tickets must be purchased in-person; phone orders are not accepted.

SCOTTSDALE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Opened in 1975, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts presents exceptional and culturally diverse performances of contemporary dance, jazz, classical and world music, theater and satire. More than 1,000 performances, educational programs, festivals and other events are showcased annually serving more than 300,000 people. Performances take place in the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts' 838-seat Virginia G. Piper Theater and 136-seat Stage 2, the 2,200-seat amphitheater on the grounds of the Scottsdale Civic Center Mall and the 326-seat Theater 4301 @ Galleria Corporate Centre. In 2007-08, the City of Scottsdale will begin a major renovation of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, part of the Scottsdale Civic Center complex designed by Arizona architect Bennie Gonzales. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts' educational programs reach more than 43,000 school children each year, and its free programs are available to the entire public. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts also produces the popular Scottsdale Arts Festival every March; Sunday A'Fair, a series of free outdoor music festivals held on Sunday afternoons from January to April; and Native Trails, a collaboration with the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau that features free demonstrations of Native American arts and culture from January to April. Open daily and during performances, The Store @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts offers hand-crafted jewelry, accessories for the home, toys for imaginative young minds, recordings, books, greeting cards and more.

The Scottsdale Cultural Council, a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is contracted by the City of Scottsdale, Arizona, to administer certain City arts and cultural projects and to manage the City-owned Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art and Scottsdale Public Art Program. The programs of the Scottsdale Cultural Council are made possible, in part, by the support of members and donors and grants received from the Arizona Commission on the Arts through appropriations from the Arizona State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

HOW TO REACH US
Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
7380 East Second Street
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Box Office: (480) 994-ARTS (2787)
TDD: (480) 874-4694
Web: www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org
E-mail: info@sccarts.org
Fax: (480) 874-4699