The Legend of Roberto Roena: Part 1
I had the fortune to witness the peak years of legendary Puerto Rican bongo player Roberto Roena. His Apollo Sound of the '70s and '80s made a profound impact on Salsa music.
One of my highlights regarding Roberto Roena was a concert he…
Humberto Ramírez Talks Puerto Rico Jazz Jam 2023
In our conversation with the maestro Humberto Ramírez about the Puerto Rico Jazz Jam 2023, we talked about the details of each of the musical presentations and what it takes to plan and carry out an event of this magnitud.
In this blog I…
Return of Our Vinyl LPs
This Christmas I gave my wife a record player as a gift, and we spent Día de Reyes enjoying the experience of listening to our vinyl LPs again. It was fantastic!
The Vinyl LP Experience
For some years my wife Ivonne has been dreaming of…
The Tres Reyes Magos
I love to see that the tradition of the Tres Reyes Magos is still alive even in the diaspora, and although it has lost a bit of its importance in terms of gifts, this tradition reinforces our culture. I also use it as a metaphor for…
Misa Jíbara: Legacy of Pedro Escabí
During the Christmas season, many Puerto Rican churches transform their hymns into jíbaro rhythms. We owe this modality of the Misa Jíbara to the late professor and folklorist Pedro Escabí.
When in the early 1960s the Vatican Council II…
José Nogueras: Parrandas Will Prevail
Parrandas are a source of inspiration for many of José Nogueras' songs. In our conversation with the singer-songwriter, producer, and author, we talked about the fact that although the tradition of the "parrandas" is in decline, it will…
José Nogueras: “A Gozar la Fiesta” and More
We had the pleasure of visiting Puerto Rican singer-songwriter José Nogueras in his studio to talk about his career, Christmas, his album"A Gozar la Fiesta", Parrandas, Tite Curet Alonso, Cheo Feliciano, and so many other things.…
Eternally Pablo
The first song I heard by Pablo Milanés was "Eternamente Yolanda" performed by the Puerto Rican "nueva trova" group Haciendo Punto en Otro Son.
It was because of that song that I decided to buy that record. I originally thought the song…
Ismael Miranda Music Legend Part 4: the ’90s
Ismael Miranda finished the '80s with four Christmas albums (Part 3) and starts the '90s by jumping into the Salsa Romántica craze. He extends that romanticism into a series of Bolero albums with Andy Montañez and finishes the decade with…
Puerto Rican Plena Still Strong
As this week Puerto Rico commemorates its "discovery" by Columbus (November 19) in 1493, our folk rhythm of "Plena" is still going strong over a century after its origin.
Note: this blog was originally published in 2010, when this rhythm…