Vamonos Pa’l Monte is one of the most important recordings of Eddie Palmieri, who arguably was one of the foremost Latin pianists of the second half of the 20th century. He also was a widely acclaimed composer, arranger, producer and band leader.

In 1969, after several highly influential albums with his own legendary band, La Perfecta, Palmieri embarked on a new phase of his creative journey. He assembled special groups in a recording session, including previous members of his band, and recorded such hits as Justicia (1969) and Superimposition (1970). However, the culmination of this creative period was Vamonos Pa’l Monte (1971). Palmieri is considered the architect of progressive Salsa. While solidly grounded in the Afro-Cuban musical tradition, Palmieri was always pushing musical boundaries. With La Perfecta, Palmieri experimented with a flute/trombone front-line.

Between 1969 to 1971, Palmieri continued using his characteristic aggressive trombone sound, but added new instrumentation to create new musical colors, texture and layers. In Vamonos Pa’l Monte, Palmieri continued his unconventional orchestration in Salsa by adding the baritone sax (Ronnie Cuber), organ (Charlie Palmieri), trap drums (Nicky Marrero) and the electric piano (Palmieri himself). The overall musical effect is most striking whenever layered contrapuntal horn lines (moñas) are built into the rhythm section. Two common and interesting features of Palmieri’s recordings between 1969 and 1971 are the increasingly prominent jazz elements and the rebellious character of the music and lyrics. Palmieri was caught up in the political unrest of that time and his political sentiments were often reflected in his music.