Conjunto del Sol takes Rincon, PR

Suerte!... our band, Conjunto del Sol, has been active this month with three public performances. The most recent was last night at a fund raising and social gathering of the International Friendship Club. The setting was the restaurant Fagon de la Curva on Carr 115 in Rincon. We played on the roof top bar as the sun set. Our play list consists of about 12 numbers. What makes our group distinctive is that we play traditional Puerto Rican songs on traditional instruments. Here on the island the ancient hill's tradition is for small groups of family and friends who gather to play and listen to the old tunes... and so we participate by sharing with others our love of the Isla and of its traditions.

Last night friends from the North were down visiting... we had not seen them for many many years and so it was a double pleasure... to play and to visit. Denny took some video of the group... Bella playing the Tiple, Charlie on the Bordonua, Chela on the Guiro and Chucho on the Bongo. In the first clip, we are playing Fiesta en Naranjito, a lively song with an engaging lilt. In the second clip, we are playing an island favorite, Verde Luz. Many people started to sing as we played this song. The words are below.
Here are two clips (only a small segment of each song)... enjoy.






These are the words to Verde Luz...first in Spanish and then in English.

Verde luz de monte y mar, Green light of mountain and sea,
isla virgen del coral, virgin island coral
si me ausento de tus playas primorosas, if I miss your exquisite beaches,
si me alejo de tus palmas silenciosas, if I move away from your palms silent
quiero volver, quiero volver. I want to return, I want to return.

A sentir la tibia arena To feel the warm sand
a dormir en tus riberas, to sleep on your shores,
isla mía, flor cautiva, Island mine, flower captive
para ti quiero tener. I have for you.

Libre tu cielo, Free your sky,
sola tu estrella only your star
isla doncella, quiero tener, island girl, I have,
verde luz de monte y mar. letra traduzca light green mountains and sea.

Don Jaime Alicea, and heart of Puerto Rico

This Sunday, we and our friend Dennis, had a very powerful experience. We visited Master Artesano Don Jaime Alicea in Vega Baja. Don Jaime is a maker of the traditional instrument of Puerto Rico, the Cuatro. He welcomed us into his very modest home, sited up in the hills with the La Cordillera Central in the background and just a glimpse of the Atlantic. His workshop has an uneven dirt floor and wooden shutters for windows, and yet, from the ceiling were hanging some of the most magnificent musical instruments I have ever seen. In the center was his workbench with several unfinished cuatros in various stages of construction. The cabinet doors around the shop are fully adorned with some old, some newer signed pictures of world class musicians who have come to Don Jaime for cuatros which he has created for decades from native Puerto Rican woods.

Its difficult to convey in words the quality of the workmanship he puts into the instruments but I can give you a sense of how they sound. Check out this and this and this for a bit of heaven as played by Don Jaime. He passionate playing is of the tradition of the hills of Puerto Rico - powerful and with exuberance.

We felt honored to have the opportunity to see his taller and to handle and pluck the strings of his instruments. We shared an intimate hour with him, listening to him play his powerful songs, drinking the sweet coffee brought to us by his wife and simply basking in the warmth and gentle glow of his taller.



Visitors to Puerto Rico usually focus on the high rise mega hotels and beaches of the San Juan metro area or the beaches of Rincon and the west. What are often missed are the treasures of the hills and mountains. Up high, people have been living for centuries, buffered from drag of popular culture. Here the musical traditions of Puerto Rico's past continue. Musicians like Don Jaime and hundreds and hundreds more are called marquesetta (sort of like back porch) musicians. They are passionate players of Puerto Rican music and have unbeatable skills, yet are modest, religious, and steeped in family and the traditions of 500 years. It is through this music of the island that the cultural integrity of Puerto Rico continues to be lived.

Reflecting on our visit, I realized that it wasn't just the quality of the instruments or the passionate music that we left considering. We left realizing we had just met a great and gentle man. He isn't puffed up or boastful, he is simply a master artesano of the cuatro who continues to create them to be played by others who share his passion.

Dia de Logros, Rincon, Puerto Rico

As those of you reading this blog over the past few months know, we (Ted and Bella Jane) have been taking Puerto Rican music classes for the past year...Bella Jane playing the cuatro and tiple and Ted playing the bongo. In the photo is Bongocera Ted...he played with a group playing En Mi Viejo San Juan at our Dia de Logros (graduation day recital) at the Ballaja. He is dressed in the appropriate attire with his white shirt, hat and Puerto Rican pin on his left lapel. He was just perfect! As a percussion instrument, the bongo is critical to a song. The bongo beats tell the other players the tempo. Mi Viejo San Juan is a cuatro por cuatro or 4/4 piece. The cuatro players played a short five note introduction and then Ted came in with the beat. His hands hit the bongo heads and the low notes (hembra) and the sharp staccoto notes (seco) were just right for the song. He played a martillo beat (the clip shows a man playing that beat). We had a great day! Ted's entry into Puerto Rican music was a grand success. Below you can see Ted's hands as they move from one bongo drum head to the other....

The music of Puerto Rico

This Saturday saw us in Old San Juan at the Conservatory. In addition to our lessons several of the music faculty put on a special production and overview of Puerto Rican music. Featured here are typical instruments. From left to right... the Guiro, a hollow and dried gourd, stroked with a wire or wooden brush, the Bongo's, the Conga, the Cuatro and the Guitar, and not seen are the cowbell or the tiple.

The concert presented the genres of typical music: Plena (a bit like our country music), Aguinaldo (like Christmas carols), Seis (originally a 17th century Spanish dance music), Vals (a bit like a waltz) and Danza (a structured stylized formal dance music). Within the types are the basic rhythms - each with a different beat. The instruments each have their own role in either establishing melody, foundational beats and supporting or filling melodies and rhythms.

The cuatro always began the musical piece as that instrument was playing the melody and then the others joined in. The guitar to play the chords corresponding to the key of the melody, the bongo and conga with traditional drum beats of the music and the guiro either following the melody or the beats, depending upon the song. Most traditional Puerto Rican music is very fast, regardless of the time (4/4 or 3/4 or 2/4) and vigorous. Listening to the melodies and beats, the excitment became contagious and soon everyone was tapping their feet or gently clapping their hands...impossible to sit still!

Bust'en the bongo in San Juan, Puerto Rico

OK I'll break my silence. I think readers of this blog know that Bella Jane is a musician, and plays the Tiple and Cuatro. Both of these are typical instruments of Puerto Rico. She also plays in a small workshop on Saturdays. Now those that may know me understand that I don't have much of a musical background but her group was in need of a percussionist and so I committed myself to learning the bongo. I go to class each Saturday and practice with "discipline" and "force" each day.

As a new player I am learning the basic martillo (hammer) which is a foundation beat... and can be heard in tunes like Oye Como Va by Santana and before him Tito Puente. Here is a link to a video which shows the basic martillo.

I made the photograph above at the graduation day recital for Bella Jane which is blogged here. The master remembered my making the photograph and asked me a couple of days ago if I would give him a copy... which I am delighted to do.

Lemontree Christmas Eve Parranda

This evening we had a real Puerto Rican Christmas Eve celebration with some friends and guests at the Lemontree. Though in the winter season we typically have a weekly wine and cheese gathering, what made this evening special was the playing of typical Puerto Rican instruments by Bella Jane on the Tiple, Charlie on the Cuatro, and Kathryn on the recorder. The rest of us chipped in with percussion... the guiro, the rhythm sticks, the tambourine, bells and the maraca. The musicians led us in some carols and later we belted out several rounds of jingle bells. We had our own parranda right here at the Lemontree.

Puerto Ricans are known for their unforgettable "parrandas or trullas navideñas." A parranda is when a small group of friends gathers together to "asaltar" or surprise another friend. It's the Puerto Rican version of Christmas caroling. Most parranderos play some sort of instrument, either guitarras, cuatros, tiples, tamboriles, güiro, maracas, or palitos. And they all sing. Puerto Ricans play traditional aguinaldos or Puerto Rican Christmas songs and have a very enthusiastic holiday spirit. Next year, Lemontreers will play some aguinaldos!

Towards the end of the performance as the sun was setting Captain Ted fired up the grill and we enjoyed hamburgers, wine, and salad. With the sun setting and much talk and fellowship, all had a good time, relaxed and with spirit as we moved into the tropical dusk and evening.

Recital in Old San Juan

Yesterday saw the recital in the Tiple class that Bella has been taking this Fall with the Fundacion de Francisco Lopez Cruz. Above she is pictured with other members of her class, backed by guitars and percussion in the form of Bongos and Conga Drums. This was the first time the group played with this level of support and the sound was terrific. Well over 500 people were in the audience. Children were running around. Other musicians were warming up. Vendors were moving through the crowd selling tasty items. The program ran for three hours although Bella's group was on stage for a much shorter period. It was late in the afternoon when Bella's group moved on stage. The stage was under a large tent. She tells me that next semester she will be in the Tiple taller or workshopand she will also be starting a new class in the cuatro.