Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

"There is a language for Bomba dancing. Once you know it...it's freestyle!"— Angel Fuentes, Nuestro Tambó.

Nuestro Tambó makes poetry with that language.

The Chicago Bomba scene is comprised of three main professional groups: Grupo Yubá, Africaribe, and Nuestro Tambó. Nuestro Tambó is the newest addition to this small but unique spectrum of Puerto Rican talent. The group consists of 8 members. The youngest is Angie, 18, and the oldest Domingo, 31, who also serves as Bomba instructor for Africaribe.

Angel Fuentes, one of the founders of Nuestro Tambó, started playing Bomba when he was 16 years old. Besides being an outstanding percussionist, Angel has mastered the art of Bomba dancing, creating a unique style that is both traditional and contemporary. "When I was 16 I met Tito Rodríguez, who is now the director of Africaribe. He was doing a workshop where he taught Bomba and Plena to the kids. That's were I heard these rhythms for the first time. After that, I guess you can say I got hooked. I've been playing every day since then," says Angel with a big smile.

Nuestro Tambó's repertoire is not limited to Bomba. They also play several songs in the rhythm of Plena--traditional Puerto Rican music played with three frame drums called "panderos": quinto, seguidor, and tumbador. Still, their passion for Bomba and Plena has strong roots in the Afro-Puerto Rican tradition. Angel Fuentes and Rubén Gerena, Nuestro Tambó's lead drummers, have traveled to Puerto Rico on several occasions with the purpose of researching and learning as much as possible about their music. According to their experience on the Island, Bomba and Plena are still alive and evolving.

In recent years, Bomba and Plena groups have sprung up in Puerto Rico and the U.S., including William Cepeda's Afro-Rican Jazz, Grupo Afro-Boricua, Viento de Agua, Paracumbé, Son del Batey, and Los Pleneros del Severo. Nuestro Tambó's knowledge and profound respect for Puerto Rico's ancestral rhythms allow them to consider the fusion of their beats with the new urban trends of hip-hop.

Nuestro Tambó plays at 10pm every Thursday night at Souk. Get there early to grab a table near the stage and witness the sensational exchange between the drummers and the dancers. Nuestro Tambo's members rotate playing instruments and dancing as part of their performance, yet they open the dance floor to anyone who feels the rhythm and wishes to dialogue with the primo (improvising drum).