Puerto Rico has an extensive and rich musical legacy that is vibrant, diverse, and distinctive, especially when one considers that the island’s geographical size is approximately 110 by 40 miles. It is truly astounding that such a small island has produced an impressive array of musical styles including the Danza, Plena, Bomba, Seis, Aguinaldo, Cadenas, Marumba, among others.
In addition, Puerto Ricans have for decades contributed to the development of not only Latin music, but also North-American music. Since the late 19th century Puerto Rico’s music and musicians have influenced Jazz, Classical, Opera, Rhythm and Blues, Pop, among other genres. More importantly, Puerto Ricans have passionately preserved, promoted, and protected our native music.
Using historical recordings from my personal collection of thousands of 78rpm and long-playing records, music literature, books and magazines, as well as publicly available documents, I seek to unearth, discuss, credit and - when necessary - clarify the “written record” regarding the significant and voluminous contributions that Puerto Ricans have made to music.
Please visit often. I will regularly post articles regarding Puerto Ricans who have contributed to Puerto Rico’s varied musical history, or who may have made an important contribution to music in some way.
No comments:
Post a Comment