Boston Bomba: Bomba Sankofa dances at Nigerian American community event in Boston.

Chicago Bomba: Bomba Con Buya present "Gran Baile de Eliqueta"

Chicago's own Bomba Con Buya bring you "Gran Baile de Eliqueta" on December 15, 2012 at 7pm at Casa Puertorriquena located at 1237 N. California in Chicago. Admission is $7 via the group's website bombaconbuya.com or $10 at the door.  Formal attire is required.

**This event is in Chicago, Illinois.

Alma Moyo at Side Street video by Jose Rivera 11:29:12 # 1.

Norka Hernandez Nadal and Bàmbula at Bronx Music Heritage Center - November 29, 2012

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    Thursday November 29, 2012 at 8:00pm  Norka Hernandez Nadal and Bàmbula will performed at the Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC).  
    

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    • BMHC Lab, 1303 Louis Nine Blvd, Bronx, NY 10459

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    • Admission is free, $5 donation is suggested.

    • Bàmbula is dedicated to the preservation of Puerto Rico’s oldest living African musical and cultural tradition. Founded in 2006 under the musical direction of Norka Hernandez Nadal, Bàmbula performs plena as well as bomba from the Western part of the island, specifically the town of Mayaguez. The group also pays homage to the traditions of Santurce, Loiza and other Puerto Rican towns where bomba is played as well.

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Bomba Works' Community Jam ft. Mark Anthony Vigo

Music Fundraiser - Climate Change What The F*&? Is Going On?

 Plena music group Plena Sin Fronteras will be playing at this fundraiser, the lineup spans the musical spectrum from conscious poetry and soul to an Afro-Dominican drum band. Alma Moyo Bomba music CDs along with other items will be on sale.  

Where: Camaradas El Barrio,

2241 First Avenue, NY, East Harlem, NY

When: 5-9 pm

Date: Saturday, December 1, 2012

Cost: Suggested $10 donation

For more information contact Green Worker at greenworker.coop or call (646) 924-7187.

La Bomba's Cuban cousin - La Tumba Francesa

5th Fiesta Cultural Al Toque Del Tambor - November 18, 2012

This show is in Puerto Rico*

Cimarrones - Glenid & Orlando's Wedding - Plena

Cimarrones at the 31st Annual PR Discovery Day - November 14, 2012

Cimarrones will perform Wednesday November 14, 2012, 12:30pm  at the 31st Annual Puerto Rico Discovery Day. The show is located at 2039 Kennedy Blvd Gilligan Student Union Bldg at NJ City University in Jersey City, NJ .  Come join Cimarrones for some Bomba, Plena and good Puerto RIcan Food.

For further information contact Cimarrones at their Facebook page or go directly to their website at http://www.cimarronesnj.com/ .

BombaWorks - Shekere Playing Workshop

BombaWorks has announced a new upcoming Workshop at El Fogon (Bronx, NY)!!

SHEKERE PLAYING

*No prior experience needed - Loaner Shekeres will be available*

If you are interested in this workshop please send BombaWorks an inbox msg on their Facebook page or email them at Bombaworks@gmail.com — with Grupo Bámbula, El Fogon and Norka La Flaka (aka Norka Nadal)

Alma Moyo at Camaradas in Spanish Harlem, November 8, 2012

ALMA MOYO PLAYS LIVE THURSDAY NOV.8 Camaradas El Barrio, 9:30PM, 2441 FIRST AVE & E. 115TH STREET, EL BARRIO, NY

Bomberas de la Bahia - Bay Area Bomba!

This women's only group hold it down and show us that Bomba is alive and well in California.

LP21 cancels their November 3rd class - Hurricane Sandy

From Los Pleneros de la 21  regarding the Bomba and Plena Community Workshop class for November 3, 2012 has issued the following statement "Hola Familia, please note Class sessions for SATURDAY 11/3/12 HAVE BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO THE STORM (Hurricane Sandy) AND SCHOOL CLOSURES. A MAKE UP DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, WE HOPE YOU ARE ALL SAFE AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU SOON!"

Bomba Liberté - at The Spot Barrio Logan Nov. 2 at 8pm

Today  @ TheSpot Barrio Logan. Come check out an Group Art Show for Dia de Los Muertos from 5-10pm. Bomba Liberte will be performing at 8pm. Click on the video above for an excerpt from a previous show at Balboa Park for the House of Puerto Rico's 40th anniversary; José I. Fusté on the lead vocals, Jade Power Sotomayor and Borichem Del Mar dance and Etienne Rivera on the primo (lead drum).

About this blog

Sometime around mid-summer 2012, it hit me that I had been practicing Bomba faithfully for about eight months.  I had improved a lot from my first class, but I realized that in order to get better I needed a “barril” (bomba drum).  I had heard from my director Manuela that a barril would cost about $500 and that I would have to find a drum maker to build the instrument for me.  Bomba has two drums the subidor (aka “primo”) and the buleador neither of which are not sold in stores and few people in New York City let alone the United States know how to make it or have time to make it for Bomba practitioners.  My search for a drum maker and the subsequent search for a conga bag to fit my drum, along with my research for information on the history of Bomba lead me to realize Bomba and its sister genre Plena had very little presence on the web. I had had a previous idea for a webpage that listed Bomba teachers, but sometime before New York’s Bomplenazo 2012 festival I realized Bomba needed a place on the World Wide Web to call home. After Bomplenazo 2012 I went home and looked up the names of various groups and individual performers.  Slowly through Facebook I was able to find other Bomberos. This finding only confirmed my thoughts for doing this project.  I envision this blog/website as place Bomba and Plena practitioners can discuss up and coming events, where Bomba is going strong, who various performers are and their recordings, recent performances, where a teacher will be appearing, and the different approaches to Bomba. 

Creating this blog will be a work in progress. I will be learning as I go about what it takes to build a quality blog, I welcome your advise and your assistance. As you may have noticed I am not a Spanish speaker, I’m sure most will agree that not being fluent in Spanish and/or not being of Puerto Rican decent is a major drawback for this blog, as I am sure to miss certain nuances. Well like anything in life I will do my best to cope with the language gap and with learning Puerto Rican and Bomba culture.  If you can read and write in Spanish and would like to contribute to this blog get in touch with me.

Yours truly,

De 

About Me

I'm a native of Atlanta, GA born and raised. I've always loved music, but after listening to the likes of Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo in mid 90’s I developed a passion for Afro-Latin percussion.  In 2001, I moved to New York City in pursuit of a professional degree and the hopes of learning Afro-Latin percussion in a city I knew was famous for it.  It took 10 years but in late 2011 I met Manuela Arciniegas the director of The Legacy Women an all female Bomba and Dominican Palo group. When I met Manuela I had only heard the word “Bomba!” mentioned in dances, at the end of “Salsa” concerts. I was so nervous when I walked up to Manuela and ask her about her classes.  Once I attended class with the Legacy Circle I knew I wanted to learn Bomba, I knew right then I loved Bomba and I have been practicing this incredible Afro-Puerto Rican music tradition from that first class November 2011 till present.

What I’ve found from Day 1 is that Bomba and Plena is a small and warm community of music lovers who are determine to preserve this Afro-Puerto Rican music tradition.  Bomberos are passionate about their music and dedicated to teaching Bomba to anyone willing to undertake this musical journey. In that first class I may have found a welcoming community, but to my heart’s dismay I quickly learned that I’m not a natural percussionist, in fact I was flat out awful those first two months. Enthusiasm and determination could not hide a total lack coordination and rhythm.  But I kept coming and after a few weeks my instructor Alex told me that in order to address my “timing issues” I should purchase a metronome.  Alex didn’t stop there though; he told me took at his flexed a forearmed muscle, he looked me in the eye and informed me how it had taken him years of doing drills and practicing rhythms to get his arms to the level of fitness I saw before me.  I got the message “little by little” I had to build my fitness and coordination up, but I also got the more nuance message about the level of dedication it would take to be a good Bombero. By the end of Summer 2012 I realized Manuela and others were referring to me as a new Bombero.  I cannot tell you how being referred to in this way warmed my heart, I had earned the respect of people as they recognized that I was a serious student. Becoming a good Bombero is like learning a martial art. Bomba is not just drumming (though the drum is essential), a Bombero needs to learn how to dance, sing, and play both the “cua” and the maracas.  A Bombero also needs to learn the thinking and history behind what he or she is doing. I could go on and on about this, but I think you get the message I’m on the road to being a Bombero, it’s a long journey I hope you are ready to learn with me.

Sincerely yours,

Dee

Explaining Plena via Plena Sin Fronteras

Earlier today I tried to explain Bomba and Plena to an ex-roommate. I used an Alma Moyo video for Bomba and this video for Plena.

Support Spirit through Bomba and Philantropy

Support Spirit Through Bomba and Philantropy

Originally published in: GIA Reader, Vol 21, No 2 (Summer 2010)

Vanessa Camarena-Arredondo

I was making my way home from the Financial District to the Mission on the train after work, feet pinched by the not-so-comfortable shoes I wore as part of my daytime drag, nose buried in some reading about cultural participation in the region while texting Ilia, one of the dancers in the group I sing with, about picking her up for rehearsal.

On the ride to Ilia’s, my personal, work, and creative “to do” lists duke it out for top billing. Sometimes all three fall to the floor in exhaustion, and at other times there are glorious triumphs among them that spark a call to Mom, excitement about an organization we’re funding at work, or a breakthrough on a melodic conundrum for Bomba practice.

Ilia and I arrive for rehearsal in West Oakland at the house of Denise, our lead drummer. She’s prepared a roast with salad and freshly brewed iced tea, and there’s beer and wine for those who need a little something extra. Eight hungry women push open Denise’s door sometime between a seven o’clock call time and when they can make it. Amidst sharp elbows (my own included) and stories about dreams, family, and lovers, I serve my plate. It occurs to me that the women, Las Bomberas de la Bahia, have made it to the center of my heart, with the rewards outweighing the challenges, of which there are many! Dinner begins.

At the table the conversation asserts its place between stabbing hands constantly swooping at the roast. The conversation centers on how we will pay for skirts, instruments, and teachers to come from Puerto Rico, Chicago, and New York, where there are many more practitioners and teachers of Bomba, an Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition established by the slaves who worked the sugarcane plantations on the island.

I view Las Bomberas as a microcosm of the larger community in many ways. Although there never seem to be enough funds, a deep purpose and need call us to this work and motivate a do-it-yourself spirit among us. At the risk of romanticizing struggle, there is a fierceness and a freedom in the DIY spirit that permeate the nonprofit cultural sector.

For the full article clink on the link provided below.

http://www.giarts.org/article/supporting-spirit-through-bomba-and-philanthropy

A Welfare Poets' Jam Session #3 Live at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe - Saturday October 27, 2012

Saturday October 27, 2012 from 4:30-7PM


Come to "A Welfare Poets' Jam Session #3 Live at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe" on Saturday, October 27th from 4:30pm to 7:00pm featuring Nuyorican Award Winning poet - Willie Perdomo, the revolutionary sounds of Ngoma Hill, emcee/poet - Narubi Selah, Plena and Bomba of Puerto Rico from Plena Sin Frontera, Milwaukee's own -Sypher Lady X plus the young phenom - Nene Ali. All of this just for $10.

It's Plena Sin Fronteras Weekend!!!

It's Plena Sin Fronteras Time!!!

PSF bring their unique & colorful sounds of Bomba & Plena this Friday, Oct. 26th to El Fogon at 989 Home Street, Corner of Vyse Avenue in the Bronx NYC 10459. For subway riders take the 2 or 5 train to Freeman Street or the 6 train to Whitlock Avenue.  Show time is at 10PM. 

Then on Saturday, Oct. 27th the group is right back in action for a show with The Welfare Poets at "Chapter 3: A Welfare Poets Jam Session" at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 236 East 3rd Street, New York, New York 10009. Doors open at 4:30PM.

Bomba Con Buya at Chicago's Efebinas Cafe on Oct. 20, 2012

Saturday Oct. 20th Bomba Con Buya at Efebinas Cafe in Chicago, IL. Event starts at 7PM Central time.

CD release party in PR for Desde Cero's new album "Semilla de Identidada"

Cd Release Mundial 20 de oct. en Aché. at #191 calle Diez de Andino, Santurce

Bomba and Garifuna meet in the Bronx

Join us at El Fogon Center for the Arts Saturday, Oct. 20th @ 10pm & enjoy the fiery sounds of Bodoma Garifuna Culture Band & Bámbula!

Honduras & Puerto Rico Presente!!! Llegale que vas a disfrutar, bailar & cantar toda la noche!!

Door: $10

Legacy Women at Terraza 7 in Jackson Heights Queens Saturday October 20, 2012

This Saturday, 10/20/12, Join LEGACY WOMEN at Terraza 7 Train Cafe in Elmhurst Queens, 10pm show, $5.