Plena!

[salsachinita]

Over the weekend we had a visiting plena band "Bola 8" from Uruguay. They were fantastic, to say the least :D !

I've never pictured plena being presented this way (a 10 piece band completed with percussion & brass, with 4 front guys, not unlike "Proyecto Uno", with substance). The only other plena group I've seen live were "Plena Libre", who were more 'roosty' with a heavy traditional African feel.

We havn't got a lot of PR influence down under :oops: , so I'm gonna ask all you experts here: what is the difference, if any, between Puerto Rican plena & Uruguayan plena musically? Or are they different animals altogether.....?

Can anyone also tell me, how PR & Uruguay come to share such commenality...?

And, how do you dance to it...? Bomba is also related, there's a different dance too, right?

:D I had a dance with the guys from "Bola 8"....and man, can they dance! A few of them have a fairly heavy Cuban influence when they dance (which is also evident in some of their music.....delivered in the same manner as the edgy, funky timba).....we had so much fun!

[pygmalion]

I found this link, salsachinita. I know nothing about plena, but I can google. There's an imbedded link that takes you to some bomba information, as well. I'll try googling Uruguay and plena next. (Um borikensalsero? Help!! :shock: :lol: )

w w w.musicofpuertorico.com/en/genre_plena.html

[pygmalion]

Hmm. In the five minutes I had for googling (tight schedule today LOL), I found only references to plena as originating in Puerto Rico, candombe as the primary Uruguayan musical form, and, get this, several references to CD's of Uruguayan musicians playing plena. There's something missing in this picture. Can someone help?

[borikensalsero]

I've seen plena danced that is about it. Can I explain it? Nope! Do I know they are dancing plena when I see it? Yeap. Just can't explain it.

Plena at its origin didn't have any African Influence, that came later on, when, I believe Cortijo added the Bomba drums to plena. Plena is a Puerto Rican music with roots in the Canary islands. The music originated in the Souther town of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It was used to advertise, as the local sung newspaper, and pretty much anything that was going on in poor neighborhoods.

I have no idea how Peru got a hold of Plena, but can say that each year bacardi holds a Plena, decima competition in Puerto Rico where groups from all over the globe compete with the local talent. PR has yet to lose a competition :banana:

Plena, along with other forms of music form PR left the country, people like El Jibaro de Puerto Rico, and "world" reknown Ramito, and Cortijo were the force that drove this type of music.

The salsa boom of 70s finally reached realms outside of New York City which in result caused Plena and Bomba to almost disappear in Puerto Rico. Bands like Cortijo, Ismael y Sus Cachimbos, El Gran Combo and others adapted the new sound coming from their neighbours in the north and began playing salsa. However the salsa from PR had a twist, (Bomba and Plena). From '76 on bomba and Plean in PR died, Cortijo the main exponent to the world for such music, never caught on in the salsa scene even when he played his salsa filled with bomba and plena in what is known as the crotijeando style of salsa. Which is basically what all Rican bands follow to date.

Bomba is a completely different Animal than Plena. Plena is music created by Puerto Rican Jibaros while Bomba is strictly an African Slave music created in Puerto Rico as well. It doesn't have Cuban influence by any means, it is strictly rican in origin as well as Plena.

Outside of that I don't know a lick about bomba and plena.

[salsachinita]

Thanks, Boriken, I was waiting for you on this.

Would anyone else like to add anything....? All the music experts in da house?

I have no idea how Peru got a hold of Plena Ummm, not sure if Peru has anything to do with it, but Uruguayans certainly love their plena...!

I believe the candombe flava has been added to their plena. musically, there's no Cuban influence (except when they dance for pleasure off stage). What I was referring to was merely the attitude/style of this particular band :wink: ......!

[looyenyeo]

My knowledge of Puerto Rican music is a kind of rusty, so if you want further details, I'll have to look it up for you.

Plenas are lyrically improvised, satirical and can take a duelling form between two singers, similar to the traditional merengues and sones.

The signature instrument is the pandereta or tambourine without jingles (frame drums). These are held in one hand and beaten with a stick. Panderetas vary in size - each having a different role, somewhat akin to tumbadoras in Cuban rumba.

The signature rhythmic pattern is the cua (plena's equivalent of clave) but it spans one measure of music, not two.

The plena occupies the middle ground between the "European" danza and the "African" bomba, hence it is the equivalent of the "Mulatta" - the typified ideal of Puerto Rican culture of about 100 years ago. The parallels drawn between music and the female gender are not uncommon, and if you want to explore it and other aspects of Plena further, I can recommend the book:

"My Music Is My Flag: Puerto Rican Musicians and Their New York Communities, 1917-1940" by Ruth Glasser.

Hope this helps,
Loo

[salsachinita]

:D Thanks, Loo!