Nostalgique Porto Rico: Plenas, Guarachas, Boléros et Chansons Jibaras 1940-1960

Long before Ricky Martin and Daddy Yankee seduced the diaspora with their very different hybrid pop rhythms, the island of Puerto Rico was a melting pot of musics from Africa, Spain and the Caribbean. This French release pulls together 26 songs in assorted genres – including danza, bomba, plena, guaracha, bolero and jibaro – from the period between 1940 and 1960, an era of mass emigration to the US and repressive anti-nationalist measures from Washington DC. Artists like Johnny Albino, Felipe and Johnny Rodríguez (unrelated) and the legendary Rafael Hernández, and the trios, orquestas and conjuntos they fronted, gave the island lilting country songs sure to get couples coupling, while affirming a distinct Latino Creole identity.

As well as guitar, cuatro and bongo, the sound relies heavily on the güiro – a notched gourd that produces a sound like a soft rattle. Harmonised choral vocals, playful plucking and a plaintive horn here and there create a tender and winsome soundscape, about as far in spirit from contemporary Puerto Rican rap and reggaeton as it's possible to be. The titles tell of sorrow, confusion, loss and longing; romantic and rustic, for sure, but we're left in no doubt that from 1940-60 Puerto Rico was experiencing, as one track clearly states, a ‘triste despertar’ (sad awakening).