Puerto Rican bomba a success across USIANS [ Wed, Mar 21, 2012 ]
- Washington, March 21 (IANS/EFE) Bomba, Puerto Rico's oldest musical rhythm, is growing within the US way to workshops given by maestro Angel Luis Reyes.
Born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, but raised in New York, Reyes was still a teenager when he learned to play percussion and joined a bunch of musicians including Jose Feliciano that during 1977 launched the Bomba Symphonic Orchestra.
On a up to date trip to provide a workshop in Columbia, capital of South Carolina, Reyes told EFE that bomba continues "to grow both in Puerto Rico and within the United States".
"I give numerous credit to the parents in Ny and Chicago, but there's also bomba in Seattle, where even people of Chinese descent sing and dance it of their own language. The speculation is for everybody to maintain this sense alive," he said.
"In Puerto Rico numerous children do it," the maestro said. "EVEN IF they're rapping and break dancing, they do it to bomba rhythms with a contemporary twist. A minimum of 10 generations have kept it going."
