Plena Libre Rains On The Green

Dancers under umbrellas, jackets, and trash bags were soaked by a steady rain at the last performance of the Arts and Ideas Festival on the Green. No one seemed to care about the weather, though, as they were pulled into the high energy of the Puerto Rican hit band Plena Libre.

Eduardo Alvarez, who was dancing with his partner under an umbrella, said he followed the scent of salsa and was not disappointed, despite the rain and chilly weather.

“People were dancing the whole night through,” he said. ​“The more it rained, the more people danced.”

The 12-man band filled the festival stage, weaving polyrhythmic drumming and complex percussion with full brass and lively vocals. The arrangements of bandleader and composer Gary Núñez — who held things down on electric bass throughout — put a contemporary spin on the traditional bomba and plena styles, rooted in old Afro-Puerto Rican folk tradition.

Plena Libre has visited New Haven before and has frequently toured in the United States (and the world) for the past 21 years. Their innovations to old-fashioned island rhythms have garnered them four Grammy nominations, more than any other Latin group.

“We took the root of the rhythm and added new lyrics that would reflect new generations — the way we see the world,” Núñez said. ​“Musically speaking, I integrated my knowledge of different styles of music that come from my experiences and stories, from many different countries.”

Plena Libre’s 13 albums borrow elements of Brazilian samba, Jamaican reggae, Colombian salsa, jazz, Latin rock, and many others. But even without Núñez’s contemporary spin, bomba and plena are incredibly complex musical forms. Attendees only heard two of the 18 different rhythms of bomba in Saturday’s performance.

The conversation between a dancer’s movements and the drummer’s beats also drive the music, and trained bomba dancers from studios in Connecticut and Rhode Island helped Plena Libre bring out this fundamental aspect of the music. Núñez said he was happy to see Puerto Ricans continuing the culture here in New Haven and passing it to the future generations.

Alexis Vargas, who has been a fan of Plena Libre since he lived in Puerto Rico, sat huddled under an oversize umbrella, scraping out the familiar rhythms with his guiro, a traditional gourd-turned-washboard. Vargas said that despite the rain and cold, the show was worth the drive from Middletown, where he lives. A few chairs over, Claudia Ramos said she enjoyed the music but being wet and cold killed the vibe.

Meanwhile, couples old and young swung their hips and splashed in the mud under umbrellas to the fast-paced beat.

“I knew it would be a smaller crowd today, but we bring our best no matter what,” Núñez said. ​“I have a lot of respect for the people that came and stayed in the rain, I don’t care how many people came. It’s about the music.”