The award-winning pianist, bandleader and composer was influential in the New York salsa scene and won the first Grammy in a Latin category

Eddie Palmieri, the renowned pianist and Latin music pioneer who founded groups like La Perfecta and Harlem River Drive, has died at 88.

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.