Puerto Rico

The new Christmas special from Banco Popular "Tiempos de Aguinaldo" is here, and the two critics in my household are not too enthused about it. "Tiempos de Aguinaldo" Theme As the title implies, the theme for the 2019 Christmas…

Ruben Blades celebrated his "50 Years" in music with a concert at the Coliseum of Puerto Rico which I consider one of the best concerts I've ever seen by any artist. In a nutshell, Ruben still has a great voice, his stories added…

The festivities of the Sanse 2019 get underway this week right behind the end of the Octavitas. Here are links to the 2019 schedule, the history of the Sanse, and a relevant Atabal music video. Sanse 2019 Schedule Artistic Schedule…

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…

The "Una Vida" (One Life) concert we attended was a remarkable music journey though the career of Ednita Nazario. Special Concert in Ponce, Puerto Rico My wife and I attended a special concert, which is part of Ednita's "Una Vida" tour.…

Latin music artists united in a couple of songs to raise funds for the relief and recovery of Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Below I include the videos of the songs "Isla Bendita" (Blessed Island) and "Almost Like Praying".…