A native son of the Bronx, Palmieri was a crucial innovator in New York’s Afro-Caribbean music history. The pianist, composer and bandleader has died at 88.

He roped salsa into conversation with jazz, rock, funk and even modern classical music. “A new world music,” one critic said, “is being born.”

A native son of the Bronx, Palmieri was a crucial innovator in New York’s Afro-Caribbean music history. The pianist, composer and bandleader has died at 88.