Harlem River Drive Harlem River Drive

“New York’s Harlem River Drive is a dividing line, a
highway where the rich zip past the poor,” says singer
Jimmy Norman. Eddie Palmieri’s Latin-funk band of the
same name tackled these hard truths, playing prisons
and speaking to the common man. Ultimately, Norman
and Palmieri made a powerful socio-political statement
that continues to resonate to this day.
- Pablo Yglesias/Wax Poetics
When initially released in 1971, many critics panned Eddie
Palmieri’s 1971 album Harlem River Drive. Clearly, those
critics were wrong. Regardless of critical opinion, the release
was not the crossover success Palmieri and Roulette Records
had hoped for, at least in the immediate. Over the years the
release has developed a following among listeners, DJs and
aficionados of rare-grooves.
The record may have been recorded towards the end of the
Latin soul era, yet it features that genre's wonderful mix of
Puerto Rican soul, Spanish Harlem Latin, and New York funk.
Palmieri worked with an incredibly talented crew of Latin and
R&B session musicians to create this quintessential New York
vibe, a synthesis of funk and Afro-Cuban sounds. Contributors
include Victor Venegas from Mongo Santamaria’s band,
Palmieri’s brother Charlie, an accomplished musician in his
own right, Bruce Fowler who went on to join Frank Zappa’s
band, Dick Meza who went on to great things with Tito Puente,
Ray Barretto and Celia Cruz, as well as Andy Gonzalez who’s
pedigree includes recordings with Barretto, Johnny Pacheco,
Willie Colon and even Chico O’Farrill. Also appearing Randy
Brecker and one of the all-time greatest of the greats Bernard
Purdy.
An over-arching theme of Harlem River Drive is the thought
that, as Palmieri puts it “The U.S. is richest country, all this
immense wealth, side by side with the most intense poverty,
racial prejudice; how is that possible?” A question that’s
perhaps more even more relevant today than it was in 1971. A
question that can be further explored with Get On Down’s
reissue of this seminal recording.