Guiro y Maraca

Winter 1997
Volume 1 No. 1
A PUBLICATION OF THE SEGUNDA QUIMBAMBA
FOLKLORIC CENTER
History
Esta

Publication
Inauguramos con esta publicacidn
la primera edici6n de Guiro y
Maraca dedicada a la bomba y la
plena de Puerto Rico y otras formas
musicales de nuestro folklor. Entre
la internacionalizaci6n de la salsa y
la fiebre dominante del merengue en
Puerto Rico bomba y plena ha
resucitado en Borinquen igual que
en la area metropolitana. Guiro y
Maraca to ofrece historia, noticias
de espectaculos en New Jersey,
Nueva York y Pennsylvania,
canciones y poesia, y resetias de los
mejores CD's en el mercado.
Dien'halo!

This
Newsletter is our
premier issue of Guiro y Maraca
which is dedicated to the
preservation of bomba and plena of
Puerto Rico and our other forms of
musical expression that compose
our rich Puerto Rican folklore. We
offer you historical notes, news of
upcoming musical events in Jersey,
New York, and Pennsylvania,
poetry and song, (see Bomba Beat),
and reviews of the best CD's
available today. Welcome!

LA BOMBA
PUERTORRIQUENA
Juan Cartagena

"Cuando Puerto Rico

comprenda el valor de su
folklor, luchara con mucha
fuerza para defender su
honor."
Don Rafael Cepeda

oday's bomba is being kept

alive by a very small group of
dedicated musicians in the Island
and in the States and its peak
commercially was definitely during
the era of Cortijo y su Combo with
Ismael Rivera. With the occasional
recording of bomba rhythms by
major salsa artists in recent years
(Sonora Poncena, Descarga
Boricua, Gilberto Santa Rosa) and
latin jazz artists (Papo Va'zquez,
Jerry Gonzalez, David Sdnchez) this
unique and indigenous Puerto Rican
rhythm has survived. It's past,
however, must always be revisited:
African Derived Genres. African
influences have been strong,
particularly in the coastal regions,
Several Puerto Rican folk music
customs clearly display indebtedness to African antecedents,
although they have by no means
remained unaffected by contact
with Spanish music and the

Roberto Cepeda dancing bomba on top

of Bomba Drum. SOS's NYC 10/96

Spanish language. Among the most

important of these forms are the
bomba, the plena and the baquini.
The bomba, which some writers
have associated with the Cuban
conga and with the more
generalized Antillean bamboula, is
practiced in Puerto Rico's coastal
lowlands. This dance is
characterized by the use of drums
as accompanying instruments, by
responsorial singing, and by
individuals or couples
spontaneously dancing within a
circle of participants. Song-texts
may be improvised by a leader and
repeated by the chorus of
participants, or they may consist of
traditional texts in which leader
and chorus sing alternating
stanzas
Many other names of dances
associated with the bomba and
presumably of African origin have
been noted: BamulK belert,

candungo, candungue,'

Guiro y Maraca

2
cucalambe, cuembe` (quembe),
cuny< curiquinqui, gracimtf,
guateque, holandis, kalindt4 lent,
mariand mariangola, sic6 and
yubte (New Groves Dictionary of Music
& Musician)

Y donde naci6 la bomba

puertorriquena? Aunque la plena

goza de una acceptaci6n popular en
cuanto a su pueblo natal, Ponce,
para la bomba las cosas se
complican. Hay unos que dicen que
surgio de Loiza Aldea y otros que
marcan su inauguraci6n en
Mayaguez. Lo que es claro segun
Jesiis Cepeda, hijo de Don Rafael
Cepeda el patriarca de la bomba y la
plena, es que naci6 en las costas de
la isla. Y en Mayaguez la bomba
puertorriquefra tuvo su mayor
acceptaci6n cuando llego por
primera vez en los salones de baile
de la alta sociedad. La bomba tiene
raices no solo en Mayaguez pero
tambin en Ponce, Guayama,
Arroyo, Loiza, Fajardo, Cataiio, y
San Juan o lo que se conoce hoy dia
como Santurce y anteriormente
como San Mateo de Canrejos.
Today's bomba is played by many
Puerto Ricans as it was over 100
years ago. Two or more drums,
originally made of barrels and goat
skin, are used. The larger drum is
the buleador and the smaller drum
is known as the subidor or primo.
A maraca is also played usually by
the lead singer. Finally, the rhythm
is kept constant by the cuas: two
sticks played either on the side of
the buleador or on block of wood
or se ment of bamboo 0

Nellie Tanco bailando ante los

Hermanos Cepeda en SOBs 1996

Bomba beat

magine; you ran from the

conquistador soldiers, on an island
taken by the takers. Your African,
your son will be free, your grandson
will be culture, left living on the
land that is now. A soft spoken
warrior, who named all that is, has
given you shelter. The route slated
by Arawak, has brought ox and
tobacco on the horse that was not
his. The heart gave in to the
mountains, behind the haze of the
fire, are borrowed ingredients that
blend together with a rhythm. The
mixture is of a Bomba beat. The
living is respecting this begining adding to the stories that start
independently Puerto Rican.
In Bomba - a dance depicts the
freedom of expression, with feet beneath the rhythm of the drum.
Like words, formed together
in a poem
the feet will tell the story..
the Drum Yells!

REVIEWS:
Juan Cartagena

El Roble Mayor, RAFAEL

CEPEDAacompaiiado por el
Grupo Folklorico Experimental
"Bomba Le Le" de los Hermanos
Cepeda, Balele Records, 1996
Patiota, folklorista, compositor,
cantante y monumento historico,
Don Rafael Cepeda es el patriarca
de la bomba y plena de Puerto Rico.
Su legado incluye "El Bombon de
Elena," "A La Verdegue,"
"Rompiru," "Candela," y "Habla
Cuembe" entre muchas otras. Esta
grabaci6n es una de serie de
grabaciones que el maestro, Don
Rafael Cepeda Atiles, hizo con sus
hijos en el ultimo alio de su vida.

Junto con Jesus Cepeda, Roberto

Cepeda, Mario Cepeda y Luis
(Chichito) Cepeda, este CD, aun
con su brevedad, es uno de las
mejores grabaciones de la bomba
puertorriquena. Cada instrumento
se oye claramente.
Todos los numeros son bombas
desde la introduci6n, narrada con
cache por Harry Diaz, hasta las
palabras historicas al final de Don
Rafael citadas anteriormente. Este
servidor tuvo el placer de conocer a
los Hermanos Cepeda el alio pasado
en unos talleres de bomba bajo el
programa "Dos Alas." Por medio
de esa experiencia educativa y sin
igual llegue a comprar este CD
maravilloso.
El Roble Mayor es una
presentaci6n unica de la bomba
puertorriquena que cubre unos
cuantos seises de bomba. El que se
crio al son de Cortijo y Maelo
conocerirapidamente lo que si es la
imnensidad de la bomba
puertorriqueria ya que la gran
mayoria de las bombas de estos era
en forma de Sick. Hasta algunas de
sus canciones mas populares como
"Las Ingratitudes" fueron
convertidas de Yubk a Sid.
Con este CD llegamos a conocer el
ritmo lento del Ler6("Ler6, Yubd
la Marile") y su transformaci6n al
Yuba'. Iambi& tenemos Cunyd,
Cuembe(, Balanc6y el popular Sicl.

Guiro y Maraca

Estos seises de bomba se

diferencian por su metrica de
composici6n que por lo tanto
significa pasos diferentes para los
bailadores. Para el fanatic de la
bomba El Roble Mayor es un
tesoro. Esperamos que los
Hermanos Cepeda que ahora son la
vanguardia del legado de Don
Rafael Cepeda continuan
compartiendo estas grabaciones
historicas con el mundo entero.
Canciones: Cunyi De La
Peronia; Elusum; No Le De En El
Suelo; Feliciano Dore; Ler6;
Yubila Marilie; Los Paleros;
festis Manuel.

Los PLENEROS
DE LA2

Ap6stol de la patria, Lider de la

vanguardia, Y la revoluci6n." In
Sirena Morena by Angel Luis
Torruellas Los Pleneros take the
plena one step further by combining
it with a cumbia Columbiana.
This results in a hypnotic groove
that is both funky and traditional. A
favorite of mine is San Tomas by
Don Rafael Cepeda.
I first heard it over ten years ago
when Nellie Tanco and Los
Pleneros kicked it in a Puerto Rican
festival in Bethlehem, PA. It has
stayed with me ever since and now
with the words included in the CD
it will be played over and over
again. Roberta Singer's liner notes
are informative and her group, City
Lore, deserves credit for its role in
supporting Los Pleneros for many
years. Other titles on the CD
include Plena de San Ant6n;
Tan, Si Yo Pudiera
Andar/Andari'n; El Testigo;
Camelia; Viejo Malec6n; and the
title cut, Somos Boricuas

Since those times, the group

expanded to include other family
members, Juan and Nanette's son,
Mateo, plays in the group, and .are
family to Jose Cartagena, who
married Lisa in 1996, who plays the
maraca and sings. Rafael Torres,
cousin to Juan, sings and plays
pandereta, is the brother of
Edwardo Torres who also sings and
dances. Rafael's wife Monica,
another dancer, joined to play the
cua since 1993. Miriam Felix
directs the vocals as singer and life
long friend to the family. Drums
are played by men and women alike.

SEGUNDA QUIMBAMBA
from L. to R: Edwardo, Rafael, Lisa &
Joey, front: Nanette, Mateo & Juan,
Miriam, Monica.

Somos Boricuas, LOS

PLENEROS DE LA 21,
Henry St./Rounder Records
Corp. 1996
Bomba and Plena fans have been
waiting a long time for a full length
CD from the masters known as Los
Pleneros de la 21. Their previous
release was six years earlier in a
joint effort with Conjunto Melodia
on Shanachie Records. This CD is
rich and satisfying and well worth
the wait. The plenas include a great
number dedicated to Don Pedro
Albizu Campos and written by the
band's leader, Juan Gutierrez where
the coro sings out "Don Pedro,

Segunda
Quimbamba

Puro Familia
Rafael Torres

L a Quimbamba de Jersey City,

formally known as Los Pleneros de
la Segunda, started playing plena
with a handful of members in the
mid 80's. Juan Cartagena's musical
talents and post Christmas itch was
satisfied by a visit to neighboring
cooking, as well as a hunger for
family culture which was rich in the
music of Puerto Rico. Along with
his wife, Nanette Hernandez, they
played plena from house to house
.

The Annual Christmas concert at

Downtown Jersey City's Saint
Boniface Church, has witnessed the
change from all plena to bomba y
plena. This church audience could
see that Juan Cartagena's approach
to replicating the verses of bomba
and Plena, were a bit different from
the Christmas music they were all
familiar with, the mountain
"Paranda," with croaking vocals
and guitars that were different than
the African roots of Puerto Rico's
coastal music

Guiro y Maraca

vAiramasiadaizaanssaceeitride.1

Para gozar con "Los Pleneros de la Segund

ALBERTO MINER
Para este doming 17 de
diciembre, en la Igleaia de
San Bcnifacio (StBontiate
Church) -al 262 de First
Street. en Jersey City.
se anuncia a retisasidti de
un especial concierto =vide:1o.
Er. el mismo. el Wadco
hist. de Nueva Yak y de
Nueva Jimmy. padre aoseder
quenacer musical de Los
Manes de la Segunda.
En erect. durante el
transcurso de este autendeo
festival musical. a extendersect la 130 alas 6 PM-y

en el que sus asisentes tambien padre goon de coonda

criolla y refreas, se Ben.
re a calm a aanadees deice.
Ptenems de In Segunda

El recital de los int:grants del conjurto iErigsdo par

Juan Cartagena. este psevisto pate las 3 PM.
ldl ex-juez Canagena que a sus labores proles:,
teaks como abogada wane
su orotund amor par la
ratbica autdelona pamnortiquells-. ofseceri junto a los
cido integre:nes de su condom. un recital de bombe y

pler.a. En rm. Lita pop

ideal pare go. todm
inientbros del nticieo
liar .11 deyn de 111411C
a los que venter una
teal prediteecton pc
bombs y plena puert
entities- corniencen a
bran ems teluviila6es
el me jor cipinru nainck
La entrada a la rea
citin de este event so I
jado en ta soma de S5.
mayor informacion s
este presentacion de
Pleneros de to Segue&
mar ri (25I) 792.2504.

News article announcing our concert. El

diario/ 17 Dec 1995 NYC

The reactions to our African

rhythms was immediate and warm
by the audience that packed the
small Church hall. With criollo
cooking as our only pay, Segunda
Quimbamba played the original
songs of a proud heritage. All you
have to say is "Que Viva!" and the
response will always be the same.0

attracted people from the corners

of Jersey Avenue and Montgomery
Street. Whenever we paused, They
quickly yelled for us to continue,
we then delivered a breeze of
culture that cut through the August
haze.
This was the first time we traveled
through this city in this way. On a
float, dressed in white, the women
in ruffles, ribbons, and turbans that
concealed their hair. Each bump on
the road reminded me of how each
one of us walked along this street
from a different prospective, yet
common to this place that is home.
I recognized friends, family and
acquaintances, waving to our music
as we squeezed past their cramped
space, we kept playing past the
barriers beyond the parade zone,
never stopping until we finally
parked two blocks away.0

Grupos de
Bomba y Plena
Tienes un grupo de Bomba
y Plena? D6janos saber
para incluirlos en nuestra
prOxima edici6n. If you
know about another bomba
and plena group let us
know and we'll include
them in our next issue.

Los Pleneros de la 21, NYC,

212 427-5221

Herencia Negra, Bronx, NY

c/o Miguel Sierra, 718 5499832
Plena Dulce, Newark, NJ,
c/o Lillian Garcia 201 6452690
Los Pleneros del BateY,
Philadelphia, PA c/o
Joaquin Rivera, 4839
Duffield St. Phila. PA 19124

Segunda Quimbamba,

Music fit for 3 kings

Segunda Quimbamba featured in The
Jersey Journal 1/7/97 at P.S. 37 school
3 Kings Day Photo: M. Graff

Jersey City, NJ 201 798-0252

View from our float, at the 1996 J.C.
Puerto Rican Day Parade.

Guiro y Maraca is a publication of the

Segundo Quimbamba Folkloric Center,

Desfilando
Rafael Torres

Second to the great Puerto Rican

Parade of New York City, Jersey
City replicated the feeling of a
proud day, chanting, and showing
the true colors of Puerto Rico that
ran from uptown to downtown. At
the foot of the hill, a viewing stand
signaled an end to this
demonstration as Segunda
Quimbamba rolled through,
playing the music of Bomba y
Plena.
A pleasant day of rhythms and tunes
like "Marizabel," "El Bombon de
Elena," and "El Zoologico"

Espactaculos/
Upcoming
Performances:
SEGUNDA QUIMBAMBA: Feb
27th at Jersey City's Hard Grove
Cafe across from Grove St.
PATH station.
LOS PLENEROS DE LA 21:
Mar 6 Waldorf Astoria, NYC;
Mar 11 Carnegie Hall, NYC;
Mar 13 El Museo del Barrio,
NYC; Mar 21 Univ. of Michigan,
Detroit; Apr 6 Appalshop,
Whitesburg, KY; Apr 26 NJ
Performing Arts Center, Newark

279 Second Street, Jersey City, N.J. 07302.

(201) 798-0252; Fax: (201) 420-6332.
Juan Cartagena, Editor
Articles by Rafael Torres, Juan Cartagena

Rafael Torres (unless

otherwise noted)
Photos/Poetry:

For information about the bomba and

Plena group Segunda Quimbamba
contact Juan at the number listed above or
E-mail him at
juancartagena(ajcompuserve.com

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SOMEONE ELSE - THANKS.

El reciclaje es importante -aprovechate. Gracias