Jeffery A. Massari Aka Jeff Palmer

Jeffery A. Massari was born on June 1, 1948 in Jackson Heights, New York, son of Antonio Massari and Jeannette Herbst-Massari. Music was a big part of his life from the start. His father, born in Sicily, was a professional guitarist, and used the stage name of "Chick Palmer." Jeffery eventually adopted the name "Jeff Palmer" for his own stage name and is hereinafter referred to as such. Jeff Palmer was playing the accordion by the age of four, and by nine he was getting paid to perform. When he was about 13, Palmer got his first taste of the future when he heard an album by Jimmy Smith, considered by many to be the greatest jazz organist of all time. He immediately fell in love with the sound of the Hammond organ. Palmer got his own first Hammond for his 15th birthday, and he packed his squeeze-box away for good. It was noted during his career that Palmer "pushes the music beyond Jimmy Smith" who has generally been regarded as the king of jazz organ.
Among modern jazz practitioners of the Hammond B-3 organ, Jeff Palmer stands as one of the true innovators. His gifts as both a composer and instrumentalist worked together to create a sound that is both futuristic and rooted in historical developments. Like most jazz organists, Palmer was on his own when it came to learning how to play the instrument. As his technical ability progressed, Palmer paid his dues working as a sideman with a wide range of performers at small jazz clubs throughout the United States and Europe. It was one of those performers, pianist Paul Bley, who helped Palmer break through as a solo performer and composer. In 1981 Bley produced Palmer's first album, Outer Limit, a collection of original pieces played solo on organ. This release may have been the first recording of solo jazz organ originals ever made and the album was a work of organ virtuosity, taking the Hammond in harmonic directions previously unexplored on the instrument. The affinity between Palmer and Bley was strong enough that the pair toured together in Europe twice over the next few years and it was Bley who convinced Jeff to relocate to Cherry Valley, New York where he resided until his death.
By the mid-1980s, Palmer was leading a quartet that featured late guitarist John Abercrombie, a regular collaborator for years to come; drummer Adam Nussbaum; and Gary Campbell on saxophone. The group recorded an album, Laser Wizard, in 1987, which went on to earn a Grammy nomination. Cadence magazine reviewer Milo Fine perceived Palmer's work as the next link in a historical jazz fusion chain. Fine was impressed with how "Palmer's ensemble flows and swirls with a rather eloquent assertiveness." Palmer and company followed up Laser Wizard with Abracadabra, which was recorded in 1987 using the same lineup as before, with the exception of saxophonist Dave Liebman. In 1993 Palmer released the next in his series of recorded collaborations with Abercrombie. On Ease On, the pair was joined by Arthur Blythe on alto sax and Victor Lewis on drums. Palmer's compositions utilized traditional blues structures, but took them in intriguingly unfamiliar directions. Many critics were lavish in their praise of Ease On. Bill Kohlhaase, writing in the Los Angeles Times, called it "a wildly innovative program that expands the tradition rather than replicates it." Palmer's next recording, 1995's Shades of the Pine, moved further along in the same musical direction. Jazz critic Pete Fallico wrote that Shades of the Pine offered "some ferocious Hammond organ Blues heard in the context of a futuristic groove." Along with Palmer and Abercrombie, this album featured tenor saxophonist Billy Pierce and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith. Jazz Times magazine likewise celebrated Palmer's compositions as "memorable blues riff figures, very brief but open-ended enough for hard-driving grooves." They also drew comparisons to the composing of Thelonious Monk.
Palmer was back with a new album in 1996. This project, called Island Universe, reunited Palmer and Abercrombie with Arthur Blythe, and this time the drumming was done by Rashied Ali, a pioneer of free-jazz percussion. Critics acknowledge that by Island Universe, Palmer had moved out of the shadows cast by organ predecessors and was now forging his own path toward the future of jazz organ playing. Writer Fred Bouchard opined that Palmer "indeed picks up the hard cudgels and loomy pedals of the late Larry Young, exploring areas of the B-3 where no man has gone before and sending back obscure messages."
In both his approach to his own music and in his evaluation of the direction of music in general, Palmer remained concerned above all with the future. He had worked on developing music school courses in jazz organ, an instrument that has been largely ignored in even the best academies, while serving as an associate professor at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts from the mid-90's to the early 2000's. As a composer, Palmer believed that innovation was the most important aspect of his job and that whatever can be learned from music that has already been created, that body of existing material must be set aside if the composer is to truly succeed. In a 1996 Jazz Now article by Fallico, Palmer articulated his mission this way: "Jazz musicians are in charge of giving audiences climaxes, and they do it intuitively and they're also in charge of giving the audience a glimpse into the future. [Audiences] want your blood and you have to be good at it."
In 2003, Jeff began his association with Utica, New York Saxophonist Devin Garramone with whom he co-founded Rank Records, Inc. From 2003 until 2005 they collaborated with John Abercrombie, Victor Lewis, Adam Nussbaum on Night Blues (2003) and Lovebirds (2005). They later went on to record several more records: Mayhem (2010), Permutation (2011 - which received a four-star review in Downbeat Magazine), and U.S.A. – Unit Sound Audio, and Epistemology (2015). Between 2003 and 2019, they played over four hundred gigs around upstate-New York and especially every Friday night at the famous jazz music venue, the Devereux, in Utica, New York.
Jeff Palmer was an only child and never married but is survived by many friends and close business associates with whom he shared the stage and many memories and good times. We wish to thank Mary Robinson and the staff at Bassett Health Care and Otsego Manor in Cooperstown who provided care and comfort in his last days.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic church on Tuesday March 7th at 11AM