Nate Chinen for WGBO – The maestro has returned to the mountain. On his super-dynamic new album, Full Circle, pianist and bandleader Eddie Palmieri breathes new life into a menu of his classic salsa compositions. One of these is “Vámonos Pa’l Monte,” the title track of his essential 1971 album — which, as critic and professor Gregory “Goyo” Pappas has put it, “represents the culmination of a period where Palmieri learned to successfully adopt and integrate an increasing number of jazz elements into his music.”
On Full Circle, “Vámonos Pa’l Monte” is actually played twice: in a sleek version featuring his working band, stocked with stalwarts like Little Johnny Rivero on congas and Jimmy Bosch on trombone; and in a big-band version arranged by Jose Madera.