Bomba (Puerto Rico)

Bomba
Dancing Bomba and Plena
Stylistic origins	Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms
Cultural origins	Puerto Rico
Typical instruments	Barriles de bomba: buleador and subidor, cuá, maraca, vocals
Other topics
Music of Puerto Rico

Bomba is one of the traditional musical styles of Puerto Rico. It is the mixture of the three different cultures of the Island, the African Spanish and Taino cultures. The base rhythm is played by two or more drums.

While bomba can be used as the generic name for a number of rhythms, its real meaning is about the encounter and creative relationship between dancers, percussionists, and singers. Bomba is a communal activity that still thrives in its traditional centers of Loíza, Santurce, Mayagüez, Ponce, and New York City.

Bomba is described to be a challenge/connection between the drummer and the dancer. The dancer produces a series of gestures to which the primo o subidor drummer provides a synchronized beat. Thus, it is the drummer who attempts to follow the dancer, and not the more traditional form of the dancer following the drummer. The dancer must be in great physical shape, and the challenge usually continues until either the dancer or the drummer discontinues.

Bomba also is composed by three or more singers and a solo singer, the singing has a dynamic similar to those of "Son" where the lead singer sings a chorus and the other respond, and in between choruses the lead singer will improvise a verse. The theme of most bomba songs is everyday life and activity. In the case of a certain song called "Palo e Bandera", the lyrics discuss a love triangle between a female dancer, a female singer and the singer's husband, the primo player. The wife realizes her husband is cheating on her with the dancer and decides to teach her a lesson on the dance floor.

This particular style of music originated in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico amongst the slaves who worked the sugar cane fields. These slaves came from different regions of Africa so they could not easily communicate with each other but they found common ground in music. As opposed to the blues in the United States, Bomba was not a form to express the sadness or the troubles of their life but a way to escape from those problems. With the migration of these slaves to different regions of the island bomba was practiced in different regions of the island each giving their personal twist to bomba music, for example in the region of Ponce they play with larger drums than other regions that are played by placing the drum completely horizontal. After a few years songwriter Rafael Cortijo introduced bomba to the Concert Halls by arranging it with brass instruments and more simple rhythm patterns, today bomba can be found anywhere on the island and in fusion with different styles like Jazz or Salsa music