Throughout the 1960s, pianist Eddie Palmieri played an important role in the development of salsa with his conjuntoLa Perfecta. La Perfecta was one of the first Latin ensembles to feature multiple trombones, one of salsa's distinctive characteristics. The band's repertoire was inspired by Cuban and Puerto Rican dance-oriented styles such as guaracha, son, pachanga and bomba. In 1968, Palmieri disbanded La Perfecta in order to seek a more experimental approach incorporating funk and soul elements into his music. Palmieri and his new ensemble recorded a series of four albums for Tico that have been said to contain his "best sounding" work. These four albums were Champagne, Justicia, Superimposition and Vámonos pa'l monte. Despite his experimental approach, most of his recordings remained largely based on the basic structures of son montuno, as exemplified by " la malanga" and " pa' huele" on Superimposition. The former was written by Rudy Calzado specifically for this album, whereas the latter is an Arsenio Rodríguez composition from 1946. A rendition of Guillermo Rodríguez Fiffe's "Bilongo" closes side A, and is considered together with "La malanga" as one of the "most representative of the hard-core Palmieri salsa style". In addition, "Bilongo" has been described as "one of the most important salsa-era recordings to feature the soloing of Armenteros". The recordings present in side B are instrumental descargas. Particularly important is the presence of Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, who had also taken part in the recording of 1950s descarga sessions with artists such as Tojo and Chico O'Farrill's All-Stars Cubano. Unlike older descargas, Palmieri combines modal phrases and montuno patterns, and adds "harmonically advanced chord voicings, substitutions and alterations" to his guajeos. The title of the last track on the album, "17.1", corresponds to the average age of the percussion section. Fania Records re-issued the album on CD in 2006.
Reception
wrote a laudatory review in which he praised Palmieri's improvisatory and innovative style, particularly the way in which he "mixes offbeat montunos with unconventional chors, expressionism, and straight jazz, in blends different from any other jazz or Latin pianist". AllMusic awarded the album 4.5 starts out of 5. The album's artwork by Ely Besalel has been described as a "layered, abstract collage work" and has received positive reviews.
Track listing
Personnel
According to original album sleeve. ;Eddie Palmieri & His Orchestra
