Brief History: Puerto Rican

Jibaro Music
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Music - National Museum of American History

http://amhistory.si.edu/vidal/about/%3Fid%3D6Jbaro music, which is considered Puerto Rico's country

music, embodies a mix of the musical traditions of Spain, including Moorish elements, especially in the ...
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The folk music of Puerto Rico expresses many influences and traditions. Bomba, an early form, was
developed on plantations by enslaved Africans and their descendants. Jbaro music, which is considered
Puerto Ricos country music, embodies a mix of the musical traditions of Spain, including Moorish elements,
especially in the performance of the seis genre. Plena music was introduced by workers near Ponce around
1898. These three kinds of music are closely related. Performances of plena, bomba, and seis often include
instruments from other kinds of music. This mixture of instruments and rhythms illustrates why scholars call
Puerto Rico a creolized societyits culture emerged from the mixing of different traditions.
Family Playing Traditional Instruments

Bomba
The bomba is one of the oldest forms of Puerto Rican music. It flourished wherever Africans and their many
mixed descendants lived and worked in colonial plantations. Bomba provided social, political, and spiritual
outlets for people with many burdens in life. Like the Cuban rumba, bomba must include dance in its
performance, as in West and Central African musical traditions. Bomba ensembles usually feature three
differently pitched drums made from rum barrels, and a single maraca. Two kinds of calls and responses
alternate: The singer and chorus respond alternatively to one another, and the high-pitched drum, buliador,
alternates with the dancer. Drummer and dancer talk, tease, and challenge each other in their unique
language, and when performed well, come together in a sensual duel.
Marmbula

Bomba Drum

Jbaro Music
North African Moslems, known as Moors, controlled many parts of Spain between 711 and 1500. The Moors
left many cultural influences in Spain, especially in music, language, art, cuisine, and architecture. The
Moorish influence is clearly felt in the seis, the most important form of jbaro music. Seis means many things
within the musicnot only a type of singing but also a type of rhythm. The seis came to Puerto Rico from
Spain in the 1680s. Spanish stringed instruments served as the inspiration for distinctive Puerto Rican
instruments such as the cuatro, tiple, and bordona.

Of these, the cuatro, a kind of guitar, is most widely used today, not only in jbaro music but also in plena
and others. The back of the cuatro in this case is made out of a native gourd. The cuatro, the guitar, and the
giro form the jbaro ensemble. Today, many musicians add bongo drums and bass.
Tiple

Cuatro

Plena
Plena was born in the working-class neighborhoods near the city of Ponce about 1898 during the change
from Spanish to American colonial rule. Plena is often called el peridico cantao, or the sung newspaper,
because it comments on contemporary events, scandals, elections, and aspects of everyday life.
Plena instruments include three or more panderetas, handheld frame drums, of different sizes: seguidor,
segundo, and requinto, each playing a different rhythm, and a giro. With roots in West Africa, plena also
reflects music from other Caribbean Islands and is a source of national pride and cultural identity for Puerto
Ricans.
Plena Drum

Giro

Puerto Rican Music - Jibaro Music - Seis, Aguinaldo, Bomba, Plena

From ABOUT Entertainment

http://latinmusic.about.com/od/countrie1/p/PRO10BASICS.htm

Dec. 26, 2015

The history of Puerto Rico parallels that of Cuba in many ways until we reach the 20th century.
When Columbus landed in Puerto Rico (1493), the island was the home of the Taino Indians who
called it Borinquen (Island of the Brave Lord). The Taino Indians were wiped out fairly quickly
and today there are no remaining Tainos, although their influence can still be felt on the islands
music. In fact, Puerto Ricos national anthem is called 'La Borinquena (Listen), after the Taino place
name.
Afro-Puerto Rican Influence:
Both islands were colonized by Spain who, unable to convince the native population to become
diligent plantation laborers, imported slave labor from Africa. As a result, the influence of African
rhythms on the music of both islands was profound
Music of the Jibaros:

The jibaros are the rural people from the Puerto Rican countryside, very much like Cubas
guajiros. Their music is often compared to our hillbilly folk music (although they sound nothing
alike). Jibaro music is still very popular on the island; it is the music that is sung and played at
weddings and other communal gatherings.
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The two most common types of jibaro music are the seis and aguinaldo.
Puerto Rican Music from Spain - Seis:
The Spanish settlers who colonized Puerto Rico came mostly from the Andalusia area in southern
Spain and brought the seis with them. The seis (which literally means six) band usually consists of
a guitar, guiro and cuatro, although today other instruments are added when available.
Puerto Rican Christmas Music Aguinaldo:
Much like our Christmas carols, the aguinaldos are traditional songs of Christmas. Some are sung in
churches, while others are part of a traditional parranda. Groups of singers (family, friends,
neighbors) will go out at Christmas time creating a lively parade that goes from house to house with
food and drink as their reward. Over time the Aguinaldo melodies have gained improvised lyrics and
some are now indistinguishable from seis.
Afro-Puerto Rican Music - Bomba:
Bomba is the music from northern Puerto Rico, around San Juan. Bomba music and dance were
performed by the slave population and resound with the rhythms of Africa, much like Cubas rumba.

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Bomba is also the name of the drum traditionally used to perform this music. Originally, the only
instruments used for bomba were the drum by the same name and maracas; the melodies were sung
in a dialogue with the percussion, while the women raised their skirts as they danced to mimic the
plantation ladies.
Southern Puerto Rico - Plena:
Plena is the music of southern, coastal Puerto Rico, especially around the city of Ponce. First
appearing around the end of the 19th century, plena lyrics concentrate on providing information
about contemporary events so its nickname became el periodico cantao (the sung newspaper).
Originally plena was a sung accompanied by Spanish tambourines calledpanderos; later frame drums
and guiro were added, and more contemporary plena saw the addition of horns.
Rafael Cepeda & Family - Preservers of Puerto Rican Folk Music:
The name most often associated with bomba and plena is Rafael Cepeda who, with his family, has
dedicated his life to the preservation of Puerto Rican Folk Music. Rafael and his wife Cardidad had
12 children and they have carried the torch to promote this wonderful music to the world
Gary Nunez & Plena Libre:
Until lately, plena and bomba saw a decline in popularity outside of the island. In more recent times,
the music is making a comeback in the rest of the world, most noticeably through the music of Plena
Libre.

Through the efforts of the band's leader, Gary Nunez, Plena Libre has caught the imagination of Latin
music lovers everywhere and the group continues to evolve as they offer a serenade from Puerto Rico
to the rest of the world.
From Plena and Bomba To?:
Starting from this rich folk tradition, Puerto Rican music has evolved to becoming a force in many
more modern Latin music genres.
For instance, while salsa cannot be described as having its roots in Puerto Rico, a large number of
artists of Puerto Rican ancestry were instrumental in the evolution of a style of music that was
refined in New York City. Among these pioneers were Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Tito Puente, Tito
Rodriguez, Machito and many, many more.
If you're interested in reading about other types of Puerto Rican music:
Puerto Rican Music - Mambo Kings and the Birth of Salsa
Reggaeton: From Puerto Rico to the World
Here's a list of albums that will open the door to a better understanding and appreciation of this
vibrant musical tradition:
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A Short History of Jbaros

Jbaros, the Tano word for "People of the Forest," are the mountain people of Puerto Rico who created their
own distinct musical style. Jbaro music evolved from the trovador music brought in the late 16th century
by soldiers, farmers, and artisians of the Spanish province of Andalusia. A mixture of the Spanish influence
offered by trovadormusic and the African and indigenous music styles that existed on the island culminated
into what is now jbaro music. The jbaros developed the guitar-like cuatro, a characteristic element of a
jbaro ensemble and now the national instrument of Puerto Rico.
(This text also appears at the beginning of our documentary.)

A Longer History of Jbaros

Grupo Canela, an extension of Santiago Family Restaurant in Westfield, MA, is a Puerto Rican band thats
known for playing jibaro music. This music dates back to the 1800s and was created by the mountain people
of Puerto Rico, where the word jibaro translates to People of the Forest in the Taino, or Arawakan,
language (2). During Spanish occupation in Puerto Rico, the government prohibited schools, newspapers,

and books and deliberately prevented the jibaros from any intellectual advancement that could potentially
present a threat to its establishment(1). Hence,jibaros were by default poor and ignorant with sole
experience in day labor (1).
The jibaros were not allowed to leave the plantations without receiving permission from the owner. The
government had such a hold on the jibaros that they were required to keep libretas, or notebooks, that
strictly outlined their daily activities. In these libretas, the jibaros were required to document their every
action, from work to expenses to issues of morality. The ironic part of all these decrees was
that jibaros were considered free laborers. In theory they were free, but in practice, jibaros were feudal
serfs. In his essay The Day Puerto Rico Became a Nation, pro-independence activist Juan Antonio Corretjer
writes about the Liberation Army that consisted of slaves and laborers and cites the event that catalyzed
Spains abolition of the notebook system: On September 23, 1868, members of the Liberation Party stacked
up all the libretas and lit them on fire in the center of the Lares Plaza. That was the end of the constant
surveillance represented by the libretas, but that by no means ended the oppression experienced not just
by jibaros but by all Puerto Ricans. (1)
Even so, the music played by the jibaros emitted a sense of pride in their national identity, in being Puerto
Rican. This music, along with bomba, parrandas, and other forms, has helped shape the cultural heritage of
the Puerto Rican people. Jibaro music is said to have evolved from the trovador music of Andalusia, an
autonomous community of Spain, that was brought by soldiers, farmers and artisans in the late 1500s. From
the Spanish influence offered by trovador music and African and indigenous music styles that existed on the
island was born jibaro music. Thecuatro, a guitar developed by jibaros, is the national instrument of Puerto
Rico and is characteristic of a jibaroensemble. This instrument is still thriving today, as William Cumpiano
has customers from all over the globe buying cuatros made at his guitar workshop situated in Northampton,
MA. The most basic jibaro ensemble consists of acuatro, a guitar, and a guiro, but it is also common to see
bongos, congas, maracas, and a cow-bell in jibaroensembles. There are four jibaro music styles: cadena,
caballo, seis, and aguinaldo, and these styles are often categorized based on the poetic structure of the
lyrics. Cadena and caballo lyrics usually follow a copla format that rhymes ABAB or ABCB, and the seis and
aguinaldo lyrics follow the decima format, which consists of a ten line poetic structure that originates from
medieval Spanish poetry. (3)
To think that this music is not just preserved but still thriving today in Puerto Rican communities such as the
one in Westfield is pretty amazing. The fact that the Santiago family and Grupo Canela keep this ongoing
tradition reflects their attachment to and true pride for the Puerto Rican roots, and by virtue of the fact that
William Cumpiano has ongoing sales of the cuatro shows that this attachment and pride is not exclusive to
the Santiago family.
1) Ed. By: Wagenheim, Kal & Jimenez de Wagenheim, Olga. The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History.
Updated and Expanded Edition. Markus Wiener Publishers: 2002.
2) El Boricua: Un Poquito de Todo. What is Jibaro? <http://www.elboricua.com/jibaro.html> Accessed
October 29, 2009
3) Gleason, David G. La Parranda Puertorriquena: The Music, Symbolism and Cultural Nationalism of
Puerto Ricos Christmas Serenading Tradition. 2003: David
Gleason. http://www.sensemaya.net/LaParranda.pdf Accessed October 28, 2009.

By: Ashley Soto