Bomba represents the strong african influence in Puerto Rico.
Bomba is a music, rhythm and dance that was brought by West African slaves to the island of Puerto Rico.
Bomba is originally played on "Barriles" or barrels of rum with goat skin placed and stretched
over the drum. There are many different patterns of Bomba. The most popular one which has been adopted
by many orchestras is sicá. Other patterns are yubá, cuembé, and Bomba Holandes. Many of the sources in
which I have read claim Loiza Aldea as the place where Bomba took its form, but there are other styles of Bomba
which come from other areas of the island such as Santurce and Mayaquez.
Plena which is another form of folkloric music of Puerto Rico is also of
African origin but has more North-African/Arab influences in it. Plena was brought to Ponce (the second largest city of Puerto Rico located on the sourthen tip of the island, often refered to as "La Perla del Sur" or The Pearl of the South) by blacks (also known as "cocolos") who migrated north from the english speaking islands south of Puerto Rico. This music is originally played on "panderos" which are similar to tambourines without the jingles. As to the origins of the panderos it is said to have been brought by the Spanish who in turn got the instrument from the Moors (Muslims of mixed North-African and Arab blood) who ruled Spain for 800 years. Plena is a rhythm that is clearly African and very similar to Calypso, Soca and Dancehall music from Trinidad and Jamaica.
Until 1953, Plena and Bomba were virtually unknown outside of the island of
Puerto Rico when a man by the name of Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera started the orchestra that would be known
for introducing Bomba and Plena to the world. What Rafael Cortijo did with his orchestra was modernize these Puerto
Rican folkloric rhythms with piano, bass, saxophones, trumpets, and other percussion instruments of Cuban origin such as
timbales, bongos, and replacing the typical barriles with congas.