plena

In the early 1900's, a man that traveled from the West Indies to Puerto Rico looking for work, brought with him a hand-held drum; the first known "pandero". This event planted the first seeds of the rhythm of Plena. Plena: a mix of…

Puerto Rican folk group Atabal just released the single "Bajamos Duro". The song is a contemporary Plena with a message to preserve our cultural roots. Atabal's Plena in "Bajamos Duro" "Bajamos Duro" is a contemporary Plena Atabal-style.…

It turns out there are several types of Bomba rhythms. We're going to cover and show you most of them in this part of this blog series. Most of the types of Bomba you can assign to a particular location or region where they came from.…

Unlike the Plena, there are several styles of Bomba. In this blog, I will only explain WHY we have several types of this genre. I will leave the explanation of WHAT are those types of Bomba rhythms for the next blog. There's a hint of…

A song that meets the past with the future, "Yo Soy Atabal" is the new single (here I include the official video) of the legendary Puerto Rican folk group. "Yo Soy Atabal" is both a tribute to its founder, Hector Luis Rodriguez as to the…

A recent New York Times article highlighted the resurgence of the folk Puerto Rican rhythm of Bomba. The NYT article "Bomba: The Enduring Anthem of Puerto Rico" is a well-intention piece on the renaissance of this once dormant folk…

Hector "Atabal" Rodriguez is one of those people that followed his passion to not only make a living but more importantly, to make a difference. He founded the group that bears his nickname, choosing the difficult path of focusing their…

The "Rincón Criollo" is a small place in New York City, but I believe all of us could have our own. “La Casita” at the "Rincón Criollo" The "Rincón Criollo" is a small piece of land in the middle of New York City, which has a small wooden…

This week I read an excellent newspaper article about the involvement of legendary bandleader Rafael Cortijo with Calypso music. In this blog I'll provide a historical framework to it. Cortijo, the Calypso, and the Antillean Connection…