Puerto Rico

I think it's fitting to finish election week (in the US and Puerto Rico) with a couple of Salsa songs about elections! Sometimes, especially if our candidate didn't win the election, we feel a bit blue about the outcome and the future.…

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…

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…

Seeing Chucho Valdés and Paquito D'Rivera perform together after more than 40 years was a memorable experience for the audience at the Puerto Rico Jazz Fest 2022 edition. My wife and I wanted to see them because both are extraordinary…

No other word describes the Rubén Blades SalsaSwing concert in Puerto Rico but extraordinary. The SalsaSwing Puerto Rico concert included a 3-song tribute to Cheo Feliciano, the entire "Siembra" album from top to bottom, a total of 41…

This month we commemorate the 130th birthday of Rafael Hernandez "El Jibarito", considered one of the best songwriters from Latin America. I'll share an anecdote my father told me about him, as my dad knew Rafael Hernandez personally.…

Myrta Silva had what Luis "Perico" Ortiz would describe as "el alma de un cantante errante" (the soul of an errant singer). Unlike many of us, Myrta knew from a very early age what she wanted to be…an artist! The…

One day in 1934, Rafael Muñoz was playing the bass with his modest band at an event, when two executives approached him with a business proposition. They wanted him to lead the house band of the most popular night club in Puerto Rico.…