Photo Courtesy of Artist
Bomba y Plena
Richmond, VA
Bomba y Plena are two distinct, yet often mentioned together, Afro-Puerto Rican musical traditions. They both express Puerto Rican resistance, resilience, and cultural identity, but have different origins, instruments, and rhythms.
Bomba is one of the oldest musical expressions in the Americas, originating with enslaved Africans in the 17th century. It is characterized by barrel-shaped drums (barriles) and a call-and-response singing style. Bomba has multiple rhythms, each dictating the pace of the singing and dancing. It served as a form of political and spiritual expression for enslaved people and continues to be a vital part of Puerto Rican culture.
Plena, on the other hand, developed in the early 20th century, influenced by bomba and other musical styles. It is known for its hand-held frame drums (panderetas) and often incorporates current events and social commentary into its lyrics, earning it the nickname "el periódico cantado" (the sung newspaper). Plena's focus is on the narrative, often improvised, sung by a lead singer and chorus.
Kadencia is a band led by the father-son duo of Maurice Sanabria-Ortiz and Maurice “Tito” Sanabria that was founded in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico in 2007. Kadencia's music and sounds pay homage and follow the traditions of bomba y plena from western Puerto Rico. Kadencia utilizes bomba and plena's long-rooted storytelling traditions to vividly capture multiple aspects of the Puerto Rican experience on the U.S. territory and on the U.S. mainland. Since 2018, Kadencia has called Richmond, Virginia home.
Maurice “Tito” Sanabria is a second-generation plena and bomba practitioner born in Mayagüez and raised in the neighboring towns of Hormigueros and Cabo Rojo. His family hails from barrios that have shaped Mayagüez-style plena such as the barrio Barcelona and barrio El Seco. As an elementary school student, Tito started formal musical studies under Joseph Carbó in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico and became a member of the town’s marching band playing alto sax. He was first exposed and fell in love with plena at the age of ten during Christmas family gatherings known as “parrandas.” Tito’s love for plena continued through college and followed him to the United States.
Tito plays the “requinto” hand drum, “buleador” bomba drum, and sings backup vocals with Kadencia. He served as co-executive producer and recorded multiple “panderetas” (hand drums), the “buleador” drum, and vocals for Kadencia’s award-winning album En Otro Barrio, released in November 2022. The album contains ten original songs that capture stories from Puerto Rico’s history, culture, and society. Its songs also capture sentiments from the Puerto Rican experience in the diaspora. The album and its songs received great reviews and media coverage in the United States, Puerto Rico, and abroad. The first single, “Oye,” was named one of the “Top 5 Non-Christmas Plena songs you need to listen to" by Noticel, a Puerto Rican digital newspaper. On January 1, 2023, En Otro Barrio was listed as one of the “Top 20 Most Outstanding Albums made by Puerto Rican artists” by Puerto Rico’s National Foundation for Popular Culture. The band and three songs from En Otro Barrio were featured on Season 2 of the AppleTV+ series Swagger (based on the story of NBA superstar Kevin Durant).
The band has played at multiple festivals and concerts including performances at the Lincoln Memorial, Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and many others.
Kadencia is certified by the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture as a performer of traditional music and is a member of the Virginia Commission for the Arts’ Touring Directory and the Virginia Folklife Program Artist Directory. Kadencia is a resident artist at the Perkinson Center for the Arts and Education in Chesterfield, VA. The band actively promotes Afro-Puerto Rican musical traditions through workshops, lectures, performances, and community-building events.