Nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album, Gary Nunez and Plena Libre have become contemporary champions of Plena -- the traditional rhythm of Puerto Rico. With a fresh and youthful image, the group has attained the admiration of thousands of teenagers and...
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Nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album, Gary Nunez and Plena Libre have become contemporary champions of Plena -- the traditional rhythm of Puerto Rico. With a fresh and youthful image, the group has attained the admiration of thousands of teenagers and youngsters to whom this rhythm was either unknown or simply "an old beat from my granny's time".
Plena is one the most dynamic expressions of the rhythms that originated in Puerto Rico. This musical genre has roots in African music and dance. The plena became popular in the early part of the 20th century in the sugar-growing areas along the southern coast of the island. It provided the slave population and the peasantry, with a musical expression of their life. As the rural workers moved to San Juan and other urban areas in the recent past, the plena became a part of the urban cultural life.
In 2001, Plena Libre received their first nomination for the Grammy Awards with the record Plena Libre - Mi Libre.
Their new album, Mi Ritmo, was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards and is a diverse collection of romantic, instrumental and traditional numbers. Mi Ritmo displays how Plena Libre has grown. Their sound is more fully developed than ever, with brilliant arrangements, jazzy trombone-powered harmonies and a solid ensemble digging in over the compelling, uptempo drive of the panderetas - the tambourine-like instruments that are at the heart of the plena.
When arranged with the playful style of Plena Libre, we find the plena interwoven with other rhythmic elements like the "guaguanca", the "oriza" rhythm, the "samba", the latin jazz and romantic themes, that continues to remind us that life is splendid when you want it to be so.
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