Search - Cepeda :: Dancing the Drum

This is my favorite Bomba CD

Jan Mcdermott | San Francisco | 09/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Directed by the late, great Chichito Cepeda, this CD features 5 Plenas, and 8 Bombas. The Bomba styles include Sica, Yuba, and Holandes, giving a very well rounded presentation of what Bomba and Plena sound like. The written information, in English and Spanish, is brief but quite helpful.

Bomba is a visual and visceral experience as well. Imagine yourself as part of a circle of dancers, singers, and drummers; you may be able to imagine a dancer entering this circle, approaching the smaller of the 2 drums, and making graceful or ingenious movements. The drummer watches, and translates the movements into sound. Listen closely to the drums, and you can hear it!

The Cepedas come from a suburb of San Juan called Santurce. Other styles of Bomba exist in Loiza Aldea, Ponce, Mayaguez, and many other places in Puerto Rico. Much of the history is lost; the influences, the lyrics and meanings, comparisons inside Puerto Rico, and between PR and Cuba, other Islands, Brazil, and of course Africa. It makes me think of the thousands of Bomba gatherings over the centuries, each special, each expressing joy, sadness, togetherness, exuberance. Each gathering is monumental, yet transient.

This CD brings you a beautiful statement of the resilience of Bomberos in the rich cultural heritage of Puerto Rico."