Influenced by Thelonious Monk and McCoy Tyner, and inspired by his older brother, he determined to someday form his own band — which he accomplished in 1950 when he was fourteen years old.

[4] Two key elements to the 'Palmieri' sound were trombonist Barry Rogers as well as guitarist Bob Bianco with whom Palmieri studied the advanced harmonic concepts of Russian music theoretician Joseph Schillinger.

Discontent among several members and seeking a bigger and punchier sound, Palmieri disbanded the band in 1968 reforming it with legendary Cuban trumpeter Alfredo "Chocolate" Armenteros, timbalero Nicky Marrero, conguero Eladio Perez, bongocero Tomas 'Choki" Lopez, and bassist Andy Gonzalez.

However, he recorded Masterpiece with Tito Puente and won two Grammys; additionally he was also named the "Outstanding Producer of the Year" by the National Foundation of Popular Culture.

On November 6, 2004, Palmieri directed a "Big Band Tribute" to his late brother Charlie at Avery Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

[2][4][5] Palmieri's La Perfecta departed from the traditional Cuban sources of salsa instrumentation by introducing a new stylistic device into the New York Latin sound.

On the liner notes of their first album, Eddie's brother Charlie dubbed this combination the 'trombanga', referring to the trombones and the still popular charanga which typically featured the flute.

On April 30, 2005, "Mi Día Bonito", a tribute to Eddie Palmieri celebrating his 50 years in the world of music, took place at the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

The event included the participation of Lalo Rodríguez, Ismael Quintana, Cheo Feliciano, La India, Hermán Olivera, Jerry Medina, Luis Vergara and Wichy Camacho.

This CD and accompanying multimedia web site features music by an all-star roster of jazz and Latin jazz artists, including Phil Woods, Lila Downs, Donald Harrison, Conrad Herwig, Giovanni Hidalgo, Gregory Tardy, Mario Rivera, Boris Kozlov, Rubén Rodríguez, Luques Curtis, Robby Ameen, Dafnis Prieto, Pedro Martínez, Johnny Rivero, Edsel Gómez, Yosvany Terry.