Call (and Response) of the Heart: Puerto Rico’s Plena Libre Finds New Thrills and New Hope in Afro-Caribbean Roots on Corazón

Plena Libre, the venerable, high-energy ensemble that help put Puerto Rican roots musicon the international musical map, stays true at heart to the island’s unique plena and bomba pulse, all while flirting unabashedly and engagingly with music from across the Caribbean and Latin world. Dancing with genres from smiling merengue and Cuban songo to Latin jazz and rock, Plena Libre takes a no-holds-barred approach to tradition on Corazón (release: February 26, 2013), keeping the rhythmic core of Puerto Rican music and adding layers of complex, good-spirited brass, strings, and hard-hitting hand percussion.

Crazy With Joy: Henry Cole & the Afro-Beat Collective Find An Age-Old Mestizo Heart and Fresh Jazz Flash in Afrobeat on Roots Before Branches

Crazy With Joy: Henry Cole & the Afro-Beat Collective Find An Age-Old Mestizo Heart and Fresh Jazz Flash in Afrobeat on Roots Before Branches

Electronic Dance

Bronx-born Jennifer Lopez put a hint of house music back on the map with “On the Floor” in 2011. The song is an infusion of dance-pop, electropop and electro-house. “On the Floor” samples the 1989 song, “Lambada” by Kaoma, a multinational French pop group. Koama’s members were from Guadeloupe, Brazil, and Martinique.