San Francisco/Bay Area Salsa & Latin Jazz: Articles

Bomba and Plena: Música del Pueblo

by Robin Davies

Puerto Rico is a country known worldwide for its rich musical content and flavor.Two of the most important musical ingredients are bomba and plena. These rhythms are unique and distinct to this island birthed from the pain of slavery and the sweat of the working class people.

Bomba and plena music are referred to as the music of the national consciousness. "In my opinion plena and bomba are different and the same. The same because they are used to communicate a message," says KPFA's Salsa Picante host DJ Luis Medina of Berkeley, California. "I would refer to bomba and plena music as the "Música del Pueblo."

Bomba is the elder of the two forms, dating back to the 17th century. Musicologists note bomba roots are strongly tied to the Northern regions of Africa. "The bomba emerged as a very important expression to the system of slavery and a form of spiritual strength. It's a family of rhythms and dances referred to by their names... Bomba is more like an event:it involves singing, dancing and music," says Héctor Lugo, singer and percussionist of San Francisco-based traditional plena-bomba band Los Pleneros de la 24.

Plena music emerged in the 19th century and was later embraced in popularity by Puerto Rico¼s working class."Plenas were traditionally played by slaves under a full moon.Plena' means full moon, that¼s why the form is called this today," comments José Rafael López, plena composer and PhD in Puerto Rican literature. "As the cities in Puerto Rico developed during the island¼s industrial revolution, it became the music of the working class," López continues."The workers would come home from a long day in the factories and use the form to vent their pain and anger. It's a music similar to what the people in the [United] States call the blues."

"The plena is a more syncratic form. It has more of a European, Moorish flavor combined with African rhythms. In the singing you can hear this.The difference is clearly defined in the melodic structure and harmonies. Plenas have to do more with national identity, political struggle, extraordinary events. They make social comments," says Lúgo.

López explained:"When I write a plena, what inspires me [is] my country,social situations, important figures of Puerto Rico, family, women. For example, I wrote "Who doesn't feel patriotic" [as] a homage to José Benitez's poem "Ausencia," of the 19th century."

"The difference [between the two forms] is in the groove of the rhythm," comments William Cepeda, of the band Afro-Rician, in an interview to salsasf.com. "Bomba is always in 4/4. Plena is 4/4, but the drums and the drumming techniques are different."

"The dancers are essential to bomba, not to plena," explains López. "Drummers follow the dancers movements; singers follow the drummers in a call-and-response pattern," he adds. "You have to be a really good dancer and really connectspiritually to the rhythm."

In the last 15 years, there has been a surge of interest in bomba and
plena by the media, historians, dancers, musicians and music lovers. A documentary called Bomba, featuring the world-famous Cepeda family, is slated for worldwide release in March of 2000. The documentary chronicles the history of bomba, its cultural roots to Puerto Rico and the message it has to offer the world.

Families like the respected Cepedas, who for 50 years have "dedicaded themselves to cultivating and maintaining the teachings of bomba, traveling throughout Puerto Rico and the world, continually remind us where we come from and who we are, so we can move ahead," states Lugo. The Cepedas singlehandedly have kept this genre alive by crossing barriers globally during times when it was not fashionable to be Puerto Rican, much less proud of your culture and hertiage.

"Part of the reason plena and bomba music are reaching a wider audience is the air time they are receiving on public, alternative and college [radio]stations," comments Medina. "Commercial stations have a certain musical format they have to abide by, whereas non-commercial stations have more freedom and can take more risks sharing traditional and new music forms-playing music that caters to the international music listeners taste," states Medina.

Groups like Afro-Rician, featuring William Cepeda, can are clear evidence of this phenomenon. It received critical acclaim for its two CDs, "Afro-Rican Jazz: My roots and Beyond" and "Grupo Afro-Boricua" (both on Blue Jackel label). Cepeda has developed a new genre calling on his traditional roots of bomba and plena and blending them with Jazz rhythms into a mix of sensuous,articulate and ambigious tones that caress and dominate the listeners ears. "The more people play this music with different styles," says Cepeda, "I know that it will bring more attention to our people, like what's happening to Cuba."

"Young musicians in New York, Los Angles, Miami, Puerto Rico, all over-are currently playing and creating newer forms of bomba and plena music, mixing it with hip-hop and R&B,a language they can relate to. What a beautiful and exciting thing it is to have these traditional forms of music incorporated with new trends," exclaims Medina.

For over 300 years bomba and plena music have been played and continue to find an audience worldwide."It's the music from the streets -about what¼s going on in everyday life, the joys, frustrations,reflecting what people are feeling-an effective communication tool to spread news and inform," concludes Medina.

Robin Davies is a free-lance writer based in the Bay Area.