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 Harlem-born, Grammy-winning pianist and composer who revolutionized Latin music with his incorporation of various new sounds, died Wednesday. He was 88. Palmieri died after an “extended illness” at his home in Hackensack,

Eddie Palmieri, who revolutionized Latin music and played a major role in the salsa explosion in New York City, passed away Wednesday.