Bandmate plans tribute to keyboard great Keith Emerson

Pioneering synthesizer player Keith Emerson, who killed himself earlier this month, will be honored with a multimedia tribute show in Miami, former bandmate Carl Palmer announced Monday.

Palmer -- the drummer in the 1970s progressive rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer -- said the concert will take place on June 24 at Miami's Olympia Theater and include guest keyboardists, contemporary dance and an accompanying film.

The concert will be the highlight of a summer tour, mostly of North America, that Palmer had initially planned to mark a half-century in music but has now dedicated to Emerson and their band's legacy.

"I will deeply miss Keith and I want you all to know I will carry on flying the ELP banner and playing the great music with my band for many years to come," the 66-year-old Palmer, who was also the drummer for the supergroup Asia, said in a statement.

Emerson, an accomplished pianist who was among the first to weave synthesizers into rock, shot himself at his home in the Los Angeles area the night of March 10-11, according to police.

Emerson, who was 71, was known for his flamboyant performances, most notably his closing set at the 1974 California Jam festival where he wowed a televised audience by strapping himself to a grand piano and playing it as it spun in the air.

Palmer said that he had long wanted to pair contemporary dance with the group's music and had initially invited Emerson to take part in the project.

He said the concert would include "Pictures at an Exhibition," the piano suite by Modest Mussorgsky that Emerson, Lake and Palmer turned into an album in a landmark fusion of rock and classical.