Filosofía Caribeña Vol. 3: A Puerto Rico Del Alma is our homage to the tiny island with an immense heart that has produced so much marvelous while valiantly resisting colonial violence and mentality for over 500 years. Puerto Rico is also the birthplace of my great grandparents, Domingo Troche Caraballo Perez from Yauco and Juana Dominga Ramos Borrero from Penuelas, both in the southwest of the island. My family migrated from Puerto Rico to Hawaii in 1901 and to San Francisco in 1925. My step-grandfather, Julio Rivera, an exceptional requintero and guitarrista from San Mateo de Cangrejos, who band I began playing with at twelve, came to San Francisco, California, in the late 30s. So, for me, this is a very personal project to honor those deep roots from the island that we still feel in our hearts.
My sextet and our 26 guests have merged our spirits at various points in time in order to honor the great Puerto Rican musical traditions that continue to evolve and give strength and solace to our people in our daily struggles. In these nine compositions, we focused mainly on the blackest Puerto Rican traditions: the centuries-old bomba, which evolved from the slave barracks on coastal sugar plantations, and the plena, chronicler, and documenter of the island’s storied history.
Puerto Rico continues to confront the constant barrage of disrespectful and destructive actions that have been well-documented results of the 125-year colonial relationship with the US. We send our love and support and align with the movement for peace and autonomy in Puerto Rico.
