2018 SALSA album van de inmiddels 81-jarige pianist/bandleider Eddie Palmieri, waarop hedendaagse versies van een paar van z`n grootste hits, begeleid door een all-star band featuring Nelson Gonzalez, Conrad Herwig, Jimmy Bosch, Nicky Marrero, Doug Beavers, Pete Nater, Jeremy Bosch, Jonathan Powell, Herman Olivera, Pequeno Johnny Rivera.
"Muneca" first appeared on 1962`s La Perfecta. This version is utterly transformed into a hot salsa jam (from charanga) with solos from everyone. Palmieri`s blazing solo bursts with dissonant, dark chords, accompanied by fiery montunos and sharply inserted left-hand rhythmic variations. They underscore the congas and timbales as the horns punctuate and dance around them. This version of "Azúcar" is the fifth since its debut appearance on 1965`s Azucar Pa`Ti -- in an even longer take than the eight-minute one here. Palmieri`s solo builds laterally along several lines at once, first on the chord vamp, then on the bassline, then in fiery interaction with Nelson Gonzalez`s tres. The aforementioned big-band version of "Vámonos Pa’l Monte," which first appeared on an album of the same name in 1971, was arranged by Ray Santos. Its roots are in burning `70s-styled Nuyorican hard salsa but it`s augmented here by five trombones, five saxophones, and three trumpets (including Brian Lynch`s). Over seven minutes, its furious pace is driven by Curtis` rumbling bassline. In the middle section, Palmieri wanders off into modern jazz improvisation, using minor-chord voicings from the lower-middle register atop the frenetic percussion section. "Pa`La Ocha Tambó" adds guest horn players (most notably baritone saxist Ronnie Cuber). But here, the rhythms and call-and-response vocal style are upfront, with Palmieri`s piano pushing them on in a mean post-bop groove juxtaposed with vintage Cuban son. The recording`s release coincides with the appearance of the interactive Palmieri Salsa Jams App, the world`s first interactive salsa music app. It gives musicians the ability to completely control their listening, practicing, and learning experience by being able to customize the player -- it can mute, solo, pan, and fade and loop any instrument with tempo control. It also provides detailed sheet music. Full Circle stands alongside Sabiduría. Palmieri`s salsa aesthetic is brilliantly presented by his hyper-modern reinventions on classic themes. El Maestro`s late career surge is nothing less than awe-inspiring.