Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island in the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the Dominican Republic. It is an an unincorporated territory of the United States.
Puerto Rican Music
The city of Ponce is the birthplace of the genre called plena and also some of the most celebrated Puerto Rican musicians in recent history, including Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez, Héctor Lavoe, and Papo Lucca.
The family name Cepeda is all but synonymous with Puerto Rico’s African derived music and dance. For decades, members of La Familia Cepeda have been performing rhythms that, until recently, have not been widely heard or appreciated beyond the Afro-Rican enclave of Loiza or Ponce. The legendary Cepedas have produced many of Puerto Rico’s most respected Afro-Rican percussionists, singers, dancers, composers and instrumentalists
Puerto Rican Musical Genres
Aguinaldo – Puerto Rican jíbaro songs from the rural areas performed during Christmas season.
Bomba – Afro-Puerto Rican melodic music and dance that emerged during the 17th and 18th centuries, associated with plantation workers in Puerto Rico. The name was inspired by a rather large wooden drum covered with goatskin called the ‘bomba’ that accompanies this music. The songs are improvised and have a call and response style. Bomba is also commonly found in salsa repertoires.
Bomba rhythms include sicá, yubá (6/8 time), oyumala, holandés (fastest of boma rhythms), and cuembé. Source: Los Hermanos Cepeda.
Plena – Puerto Rican folk song and dance style with African, Spanish, and Caribbean roots. Plena was born in the barrios of Puerto Rico in the early 20th century. It started with a single pandero (frame drum, also known as pandereta) that quickly developed into a trio of interlocking pandero patterns that accompanied a call-and-response vocal style. Plena soon evolved from a music solely played by agricultural migrants known as jibaros (“mountain farmers”) to a popular form of social expression that recounted the daily lives of the island’s inhabitants.
Plena is also called “el periódico cantado” (“the sung newspaper”) because it reports history, political commentary and the day-to-day news of the people and community. Backed by panderos (hand drums) and string instruments, plena focuses on the story, often improvised, sung by a lead singer and chorus.
Plena artists include Los Pleneros de La 21, Miguel Zenon, and Plena Libre.
Sources: Plena Libre, World Music Central, Richmond Folk Festival
Puerto Rican Musicians
Adalberto Santiago
Edwin Bonilla
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Giovanni Hidalgo
Grupo Iyawo
Héctor Lavoe
Hector “Tito” Matos
José Feliciano
José Rossy
Los Pleneros del Truco
Nelson González
Nestor Torres
Tito De Gracia
Tito Gómez
Truco y Zaperoko
William Cepeda
Willie Rosario
Yomo Toro
Zaperoko
