ABOUT US

Group Biography

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 invigorating sound. The group has been performing its rich vocals and dynamic dance in theaters, concert halls, universities, and nightclubs throughout New York. Their debut album, No Hay Sabado Sin Sol, (There is No Saturday Without A Sunrise) is at once a harmonious ode to ancestral spirits, a call to unmask the exploiters in defense of the weak, and a recollection of bittersweet life experiences encountered in love, work, and community.

Alma Moyo’s refreshing pulse emits an Afro-Caribbean pride sailing above its cosmopolitan landscape. Alma Moyo’s seasoned young musicians perform with various talented “Latin Music” bands. 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 a beacon 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 Caribbean music groups. Alma Moyo is releasing its album Friday October 8, 2010 at the Bruckner Bar & Grill in the Bronx.

Track List           

1.     Mariano es Sico – Sicá  (Written by Alex LaSalle)

2.     Ron de la Paloma – Rulé  (Traditional Song)

3.     Marimbambé – Yubá de Cataño (Traditional Song)

4.     Que Triste – Güembé Corrido (Traditional Song)

5.     Ya no tienen que llorar – Rulé (Traditional Song)

6.     Dendén Kurubina – Yubá de Cataño (Traditional Verses with Music by Dr. Emanuel Dufrasne González)

7.     Dibu’Din Dibu’Dan – Holandé de Mayagüez (Traditional Song)

8.     Aguatile – Cuembé (Traditional Song)

9.     Nana Diviné – Gracimá (Traditional Song)

10.   Socio – Güembé Corrido (Traditional Song)

11.   Lauré Ñan Gato – Holandé de Mayagüez (Traditional Song)

12.   Catalina tu no me quieres – Rulé (Traditional Song)

13.   La Central Coloso – Gracimá/Güembé de Cataño (Written by Alex LaSalle)