Eddie Palmieri, pioneering Latin jazz musician and Grammy winner, dies aged 88

The pianist, composer and bandleader was the first Latino to win a Grammy and would win seven more over a career that spanned nearly 40 albums

Eddie Palmieri, the avant-garde musician who was one of the most innovative artists of rumba and Latin jazz, has died aged 88.

Fania Records announced Palmieri’s death Wednesday evening. Palmieri’s daughter Gabriela told the New York Times her father died earlier that day at his home in New Jersey after “an extended illness”.