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Music in Puerto Rico
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Salsa
is unquestionably the sound of the island. You hear it on the radio and on the beach, in cafA©s and live in the best hotels. This upbeat and very danceable Latin sound is set to complex African rhythms and has a strong foundation in jazz. Developed in the nightclubs of New York in the 1940s, and made most popular by the late Tito Puente, salsa is experiencing a surge of renewed popularity on the island. Though it's hard to find salsa played live anywhere but in the best nightclubs these days, every town seems to have a spot where locals - young and old alike - gather to listen and dance to the likes of Celia Cruz and Afro-Cuban All-Stars.
The folk music and dance tradition called
bomba
still has a presence in Puerto Rico. Much like Cuban rumba, it is based on intricate West African percussion. The drummer's objective is usually to provoke a response from a dancer, which incites a sort of competition, with musician and dancer performing in response to the other's lead.
Plena
is often performed along with
bomba
, although the two folk music styles have very different roots.
Plena
is believed to derive from TaAno and Spanish traditions and involves a ten-string guitar, called a
cuatro
, and a hollowed gourd, like a maraca, called a
guiro
. Interestingly,
plena
was once a means of reporting the news; singers effectively recited the day's events. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Puerto Rico,
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