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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZBOMBAAfrican-derived music and dance style developed in coastal towns of Puerto Rico, especially Loiza Aldea, among large communities of black sugar-cane millworkers. Traditionally performed at social gatherings with an ensemble of one or two low-pitched barrel-shaped drums providing a fixed rhythmic pattern, an improvisatory higher-pitched one, maracas and a pair of sticks, which tap out a fixed organising rhythmic timeline on the side of a drum or any resonant surface. The woman performes relatively fixed steps while her partner exhibits his dancing skill, "dialoguing' with the solo drummer; singing is call-and- response between lead singer and chorus, lyrics on topics of everyday interest, local and island history, often improvised about the dancing/music. Modernised '50s by Rafael Cortijo and his vocalist Ismael Rivera, who introduced it into the Cuban-infl. conjunto; Willie Colon took the music increasingly electric in his bands. Now one of many styles comprising pan- Latin salsa (which see). |