It is with sadness that we announce the passing of our brother Tito Cepeda, gifted bombero, rumbero and overall drummer! Tito was born and bred in East Harlem, better known as “El Barrio.” He was a founding member of the “Pleneros de la 21” and played with the cream of the crop, everyone from Afro Cuba de Matanzas to Puente.
From all of us here at the Raíces Cultural Center, our deepest heartfelt condolences go out to Tito’s family and friends. He will truly be missed and remembered as he enters the realm of Ara Orun. May the aché of Olofín’s cosmic nature surround you always Tito, as you begin your new ride through eternity!
Los Pleneros de la 21 in partnership with the Hostos Center for Arts & Culture Celebrate 25 Years of Bomba & Plena…Para Todos Ustedes!
LOS PLENEROS DE LA 21 ~
ARE PROUD TO BRING BACK
BOMBA & PLENA - UN PASO ALANTE
Intensive BOMBA & PLENA Classes for
musicians and experienced music students with master percussionist
ANTHONY CARRILLO
¡Saludos Familia!
Los Pleneros de la 21 are proud to announce that due to popular demand and request, we are offering an additional 3 evenings of intensive percussion classes with the incomparable ANTHONY CARRILLO!
Join us for in Bomba & Plena: Un Paso Alante's - our program that offers intensive Bomba, Plena and music instruction for musicians, experienced music students and music afficionados - next dates: on
JUNE 23RD THROUGH JUNE25TH 2009!
THREE CONSECUTIVE EVENINGS
DEDICATED TO
MUSIC TECHNIQUE,
REGIONAL PERCUSSION STYLES,
AND
BOMBA & PLENA PERCUSSION:
REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
REGISTRATION DEADLINE:
VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR REGISTRATION FORMS OR CONTACT US TODAY!
(212) 427.5221 / / nellietanco@aol.com
or visit us at our headquarters:
1680 Lexington Avenue Room 209 NY NY 10029
Bomba y Plena:Un Paso Alante established in 2007, is a part of our “Bomba & Plena For All” – Educating through Arts Initiatives and is made possible in part with the support The New York State Council on the Arts, and NYC Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito, District 8.
Los Pleneros de la 21, Inc.
"BOMBA & PLENA -
uniting community buidling and cultural equity through music for over 25 years
T: 212-427-5221 / F: 212-427-5339
www.losplenerosdela21.org
www.myspace.com/
When:
Saturday, May 16, 2009 10:00 PM
Where:
Camaradas Bar & Restaurant
2241 1st Ave./ 115th Street
New York
10029
View Map
Bomba has always been a tool for revolution and the celebration of freedom, and a means to cleanse our spirits from the everyday wind and grind of ordinary life. Join Alma Moyo, New York's most exciting Afro Puerto Rican ensemble, and celebrate life, love and Spirit together within an all embracing community dedicated to the preservation of our African legacy in Puerto Rico.
"Realize that You are involved in a situation that is a lot greater than who you are!!!" Sononfu Somé, Dagara People West Africa. We as descendants of a cultural legacy that stems back about 500 years are involved in something greater than we as individuals. Our Afro Puerto Rican cultural tradition, la Bomba, will ignite Camaradas Bar & Restaurant this Saturday Night and the voices of our ancestors will penetrate our very souls. Bomba has always been a tool for revolution and the celebration of freedom, and a means to cleanse our spirits from the everyday wind and grind of ordinary life. Join Alma Moyo, New York's most exciting Afro Puerto Rican ensemble, and celebrate life, love and Spirit together within an all embracing community dedicated to the preservation of our African legacy in Puerto Rico. starts at 10pm $5 Cover
Tambutéalo
con
BÁMBULA
& Guests
Performing the rich and powerful sounds of Afro-Puerto Rican BOMBA
SaTURDAY, Friday, February 28th 2009
Camaradas, El Barrio
(2241 East 115th Street, 1st Avenue NY NY 10035)
9:30 PM – 2:00 AM
$5.00
DON’T MISS OUT ON THIS MONTHLY BOMBAZO, GUARANTEED TO MAKE YOU MOVE YOUR FEET IN HONOR OF OUR ANCESTORS AND CULTURE
(Video Credit: Afroroots)
(Property of Yerbabuena, Inc)
Back in 06', Tato Torres and Bryan Vargas (producer) put out an album entitled, "Boricua Roots Music". I wasn't in NY at the time, and I honestly forgot how I got my hands on the CD (maybe on Ebay?), but I did and gladly so. For me, this was a first in showcasing the talents of a new breed of NY percussionist, as cats like Nicky Laboy, Obanilu Allende, Jorge Vazquez made up the roster. Whether they played a seis corrido, holandes, plena, sica, etc...it swung and it demanded attention. If your like me, buying a cd in a way is like buying into the reputation of the individuals listed on the liner notes, and since I saw names I was familiar with (i.e. Nicky, Oba, Jorge, Bryan V, Tato, Raquel Z Rivera), I knew this was going to be a project that was worth the price of admission.
Bomba y Plena has had a long history of development in NYC. Notable groups and players such as Heny Alvarez, Aurora Florez and Yeyito (Amigos de la Plena), Victor Moñtanez y Los Pleneros de la 110, Sammy and Nelly Tanco, and of course Chema and his crew have all kept the artform alive and kickin' since the late 60's, 70's, also Willie did mention to not forget to put down Jovan Romero, (please forgive if I missed anyone). Nowadays groups like Alma Moyo, Bambula, Zon del Barrio, LP21, Yaya, and Yerbabuena are continuing to not only carry the torch, but blaze new paths in keeping this tradition a "living tradition" and not just a remnant of the past.
So all that to say, that Yerbabuena's offering, "Boricua Roots Music" is as Tato says,
"Like nothing you've ever heard before, and yet like everything that leads to a contemporary Puerto Rican musical expression... like our parents record collection on our turntables... "
I especially like "Lola/No Me Cuques", as it goes from an energetic "seis corrido" to a equally energetic, yet different "holandes".
More from Yerbabuena's Myspace site:
YERBABUENA (one word) is a group of individuals who come together to play the music that they love under the musical direction of singer-composer-musician Tato Torres. It is composed of musicians, singers and dancers from the New York City area, who share an intense passion for the musical traditions of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The last thing that will come to your mind while at a YERBABUENA event is that you're watching a show, it feels more like a cross between a jam in the park, a spiritual ceremony and a family reunion. They convey wholeness and harmony, and their music is moving beyond belief. The music they play is, by nature, participatory. Whether bomba, plena or música jíbara, it's all interactive. And being witness to their vibrant sounds and the deep joy that making music together gives them, just leaves the audience no choice but to join in the chorus or dance for the drums. After a YERBABUENA session, you'll be uplifted, tired and happy.
The concept of YERBABUENA developed during the summer of 1999 at the renowned Rincón Criollo Cultural Center (aka "La Casita de Chema") in the heart of the South Bronx, and has been growing since. It developed out of the need for cultural expression, redefinition and re-appropriation of the Puerto Rican musical heritage by a new generation of Boricuas. For a long time, Puerto Rican musical traditions have been constricted by commercial culture and generally limited to holidays and "folkloric" presentations.YERBABUENA is an important part of the struggle to develop and promote identity through living Puerto Rican musical traditions such as bomba, plena and música jíbara.
While well-recognized Boricuas like Willie Colón, Marc Anthony and Ricky Martin are known worldwide for their "Latin" flavor, groups like Plena Libre, Los Pleneros de la 21, Viento de Agua, and now YERBABUENA, have been changing the way people listen to traditional Puerto Rican music in New York City and beyond. YERBABUENA reclaims the Puerto Rican music often branded as "folkloric," refusing to accept its packaging as frozen-in-time museum pieces, only vaguely connected to contemporary culture. Instead, they make gorgeous music that incorporates past and present. YERBABUENA taps right into the core of who Boricuas are as a People.
Boricua Roots Music
Boricua Roots Music is a musical movement in which Boricua musicians have combined and re-combined elements of traditional and/or folkloric music as contemporary musical expressions. This style of modern music, which reaches back to the roots of Boricua (Puerto Rican) tradition has come to be called "roots music" or "música de raíz" in Spanish. The movement is also often referred to simply as "roots" or "raíces" in Spanish.
So if you want to buy the CD and are in the NYC area, you can go to:
El Barrio Music Center1870 Lexington Ave. (bet. 115 & 116 Sts.),El Barrio, NYC
Casa Amadeo Record Shop786 Prospect Ave.,The Bronx, NYC
If not, you can get it through their myspace site.
Now, I can't wait till Alma Moyo, puts out their CD, which is supposedly in the making from what I hear...
Message from Julia:
Hola Familia,
Just a quick reminder that Alma Moyo's Bomba dance and percussion dance classes will begin next Thursday, January 22nd @ 7:00 pm - all students, ages and skill levels are welcomed! Ladies - please bring a dance skirt if it's available to youPercussion Students - please bring your own instruments! Any questions, please feel free to contact me! See you all there!
Julia L. Gutierrez-Rivera
Click here...
If I were in NY tomorrow, there would be no question as to where I would be, $5 bucks!
