Description:

Alma Moyo Afro-Puerto Rican Music Group was born in 2002 at a lively drum jam session at ?La Casita de Chema?, a community garden in the South Bronx. Founded by Alex LaSalle from Moca, Puerto Rico, Alma Moyo is an intergenerational crew of Puerto Ricans and Dominicans who promote the diverse regional drum and vocal styles of Bomba with a Caribbean-blues sentiment. Illegal throughout parts of Puerto Rico as recently as the 1940?s, Alma Moyo?s Bomba is laden with revolutionary defiance, sorrowful lament, and therapeutic chanting. The group has been performing its rich vocals and dynamic dance in theaters, concert halls, universities, and nightclubs throughout New York. Alex LaSalle, the group?s director, is a soulful singer with a near-photographic memory who has learned hundreds of never recorded Bomba songs and has quickly become one of the leaders of this living musical tradition. A gifted singer and percussionist, Alex also performs with Grupo Folklorico Experimental Nueva Yorquino, Grammy-nominated Los Pleneros de la 21, and other accomplished Afro-Latino music groups. Band members include a down-to-earth mix of educator/artists including NYC Urban Artist Awardee and first female primo drum player Manuela Arciniegas, gifted drummer Obanilu Ire Allende who?s been featured with Miguel Zen?n Quartet, and Jorge Vazquez from Hot Peas & Butter and Bryan Vargas & Ya Esta. Alma Moyo?s album has successfully met its pledge to bring people back to the African roots of Puerto Rico with an urban twist. Alma Moyo is launching its album tour in the spring of 2011.