Discover the fusion and alteration of genres by artists like Plena Libre, Velcade, Rufián, Grupo Afrocuba, Los Hermanos Ayala, and Victor Emmanuelli. As they modernize traditional sounds, the legacies left behind by Rafael Cepeda, Rafi Falu, Charlie Pizarro, and Edwin Colón Zayas continue to echo through time, ensuring that the beats of Plena, Bomba, and Seis never fade away.

Pandemic of Plena

Plena, they say, flows from Ponce’s streets around 1920, telling tales like no other. The pandereta jumps in, rolling stories with a güiro in hand, ensuring the rhythm sticks. Voices rise, recounting news both light and grave, weaving narratives around daily life. Some claim horns and call-and-response vocals ride in later, carried by migrations from rural to urban landscapes. Manuel A. Jiménez whispers from history as if “El Canario” always knew stories dance best with a beat.

Bomba’s Rebellious Beat

Bomba walks with shadows from the 17th century, birthed in secret gatherings at sugar plantations. Drums pulse, bodies move, each dancer’s footfall molds the barriles’ sound. Dances beguile, shifting with every call, every dancer a director, a rhythm pusher. “Bailes de Bombas” on Sundays or feast days, where plots brewed over beats. Rebels at heart, they remain, defying the past’s confines, stretching into the reggaetón of tomorrow. Meanwhile, Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera conjure rhythms that ensure the Old never forgets the New.

Seis String Theory

Seis strums its origins from Spanish lands, a whisper of décima shaping words into melodic tales. The cuatro leads, its ten strings spinning pastoral tales, romantic escapades, and nods to a nation’s pride. Andalusian roots entwine with African rhythms, producing a melange, distinctly Puerto Rican. Gíbaro melodies echo from hilltops, challenging the Fajardo coast’s harmonies. Edwin Colón Zayas reverberates in listeners’ ears, his cuatro tugging storytelling into an acoustic journey.

Fusions and Alterations

Rumblings of innovation stir, Plena Libre steps forth, boldly fusing jazz, rock, and even salsa into the old Plena canvas—an audible metamorphosis. Meanwhile, Bomba takes a modern spin, embracing reggaetón, a dialogue not just with dancers but with time. Each rhythm a revolution, every beat a bridge. Artists Velcade and Rufián stir the Bomba waters, concocting sounds unimagined in elder times. Seis, not to be outdone, rides the musical currents, improvising with Trinidad and Taino echoes, unwavering, ever-evolving.

Legends and Legacies

Rafael Cepeda, the maestro, holds Bomba and Plena in his sway, handing traditions the world over. Grupo Afrocuba and Los Hermanos Ayala weave Bomba into today’s tapestry, a musical transformation that whispers of its roots. While Rafi Falu and Charlie Pizarro walk Plena’s narrative threads, Victor Emmanuelli joins the chorus. In Seis, tales become strings under Edwin Colón Zayas’s deft fingers. As legacies hum, each genre preserves an identity, a story, a beat unforgotten.

Tracklist :