Plena Libre at Yoshi's Oakland

The Torch Bearers of Puerto Rico’s Plena, Bomba, and Beyond! Four-Time Grammy Nominee Plena Libre is the Music of Puerto Rico as it Should Be Experienced Live!

Captivating and moving audiences over the course of a seventeen-year, thirteen-album career, this fine-tuned Puerto Rican-based ensemble of virtuoso musicians has only gotten better with age, as evidenced by their four recent Grammy nominations and world wide touring schedule.

“The chemistry and emotions on stage – my God!” says Plena Libre founder, bassist, arranger, musical director, and composer Gary Nuñez. “I am continually overwhelmed by the spirit of the band. It is the music of Puerto Rico as it should be experienced. This train will just run you over!”...

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The Torch Bearers of Puerto Rico’s Plena, Bomba, and Beyond! Four-Time Grammy Nominee Plena Libre is the Music of Puerto Rico as it Should Be Experienced Live!

Captivating and moving audiences over the course of a seventeen-year, thirteen-album career, this fine-tuned Puerto Rican-based ensemble of virtuoso musicians has only gotten better with age, as evidenced by their four recent Grammy nominations and world wide touring schedule.

“The chemistry and emotions on stage – my God!” says Plena Libre founder, bassist, arranger, musical director, and composer Gary Nuñez. “I am continually overwhelmed by the spirit of the band. It is the music of Puerto Rico as it should be experienced. This train will just run you over!”

Plena Libre infuses their contemporary Caribbean compositions with a deep sense of the unique indigenous musical traditions, known as plena and bomba, which developed on the island over a century ago. Unlike salsa bands, who usually only have two singers, Plena Libre features five vocalists singing in lush three and four part harmonies; a musical representation of a traditional community gathering. Further giving their live performances a memorable standout quality, occasionally, the entire band will vocalize the percussion parts of the plena, creating an a cappella polyphonic polyrhythm. These artistic choices drive home the core of the tradition in an aesthetic that appeals to broad audiences and aficionados alike. With an aggressive, tight, yet sensitive style, which balances the traditional with the contemporary, the global and the local, Plena Libre creates a brand of music and live performance that is both profoundly Puerto Rican and universally appealing.

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