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Boukman Eksperyans Duration 6:13 Grammy-nominated group performs in honor of the Haitian people affected by the earthquake of January 2010. click for more
La India Canela performs at the 2009 Folklife Festival Duration 5:07 Filmed at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival for the Las Américas program. click for more
La India Canela discusses influences on merengue típico Duration 3:22 Merengue is widely recognized as the national music and dance of the Dominican Republic, and one of the country's most important exports, but it is not a single, unified genre. The traditional style called merengue típico... click for more
La India Canela discusses her passion for the accordion Duration 4:07 Lidia María Hernández López, "La India Canela," is a celebrated accordion player from the Dominican Republic. She has recorded several... click for more
Viento de Agua perform a traditional bomba Duration 6:23 Bomba is percussion-driven music created by enslaved Africans in Puerto Rico... click for more
Los Pleneros de la 21 demonstrate the drums used in the plena Duration 1:27 Plena is an Afro-Latino tradition that developed out of bomba music around the beginning of the 20th century in southern Puerto Rico. Plena lyrics are narrative... click for more
Los Pleneros de la 21 perform "El Testigo" Duration 4:31 Los Pleneros de la 21 gelled as a group in 1983, when conservatory-trained percussionist Juan "Juango" Gutiérrez followed his pride in his Puerto Rican culture... click for more
Los Pleneros de la 21 perform "Carmelina" Duration 3:36 "Carmelina," a traditional plena in tribute to the great plenero Marcial Reyes Arvelo... click for more
Ecos de Borinquen demonstrate música jíbara Duration 2:00 Música jíbara comes from the mountain regions of Puerto Rico. The style is rooted... click for more
Ecos de Borinquen perform "Mujer Borinqueña" Duration 1:59 Traditional Puerto Rican jíbaro music is often improvised, sung poetry. At the core of the traditional song repertoire are the seis (in which the song form... click for more
Bahamian Medley Duration 3:22 For hundreds of years in the The Bahamas, the human voice has been raised in melodious strains to a rhythmic pulse that is deeply influenced by the African ancestry of most Bahamians... click for more
Bahamian Junkanoo Parade Duration 2:41 Junkanoo is a Bahamian street parade featuring colorful and elaborate costumes and floats. Performed every Boxing Day... click for more
Interview with Sons of Andros Duration 1:44 Sons of Andros is a contemporary gospel group from the Bahamian island of Andros. Harington "Zippy" Frazier and... click for more
Tito Matos on teaching younger generations in his Puerto Rican community Duration 0:49 In 1994, master Puerto Rican plena drummer Tito Matos emigrated to New York City and encountered there a vibrant... click for more
Tito Matos on keeping musical traditions alive Duration 1:12 When Matos was a young man, his grandfather gave him a pandereta, the lead drum and characteristic instrument of the traditional Puerto Rican plena. Matos quickly became known as a uniquely talented and innovative... click for more
