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The Torch Bearers of Puerto Rico’s Plena, Bomba, and Beyond! Four-Time Grammy Nominee Plena Libre is the Music of Puerto Rico as it Should Be Experienced Live!
Captivating and moving audiences over the course of a seventeen-year, thirteen-album career, this fine-tuned Puerto Rican-based ensemble of virtuoso musicians has only gotten better with age, as evidenced by their four recent Grammy nominations and world wide touring schedule.
“The chemistry and emotions on stage – my God!” says Plena Libre founder, bassist, arranger, musical director, and composer Gary Nuñez. “I am continually overwhelmed by the spirit of the band. It is the music of Puerto Rico as it should be experienced. This train will just run you over!”
Plena Libre infuses their contemporary Caribbean compositions with a deep sense of the unique indigenous musical traditions, known as plena and bomba, which developed on the island over a century ago. Unlike salsa bands, who usually only have two singers, Plena Libre features five vocalists singing in lush three and four part harmonies; a musical representation of a traditional community gathering. Further giving their live performances a memorable standout quality, occasionally, the entire band will vocalize the percussion parts of the plena, creating an a cappella polyphonic polyrhythm. These artistic choices drive home the core of the tradition in an aesthetic that appeals to broad audiences and aficionados alike. With an aggressive, tight, yet sensitive style, which balances the traditional with the contemporary, the global and the local, Plena Libre creates a brand of music and live performance that is both profoundly Puerto Rican and universally appealing.
Along with thrilling audiences around the world, from the Fez Festival (in Morocco) to the Playboy Jazz Festival, Plena Libre has a deep commitment to educating their audiences about the traditional culture of Puerto Rico. Since the founding of the group, the ensemble has offered three levels of workshops tailored to the needs of particular demographics. For young audiences, the band has conducted hands-on demonstrations, taking an interactive approach to helping kids play Caribbean rhythms and learn various dance steps. For older audiences, Plena Libre focuses their discussion on the rich historical and cultural aspects of their music, reinforcing these points with live musical examples. And, for professional musicians, through performance and dialogue, the band shares their insight into the music business and their own creative process as well as details of the technical aspects of producing their art.
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