WMBR Special Events Calendar

This Month

"CUMBANCHERO VS. ROCKFORT ROCK" on WMBR's Subject to Change Program

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An early 20th Century Puerto Rican dance number is also one of Jamaica's greatest riddims. Rafael Martinez Marin's "El Cumbanchero"'s festive, brass-heavy song features ridiculous and nonsense lyrics (Sample: "A cumba cumba cumba/ cumbanchero.../A bongo bongo bongo bongocero...") that likely contributed to its popularity. Jamaica, whose native disregard for copyright is one of its greatest attributes, adopted the song into the riddim "Rockfort Rock", producing the rhythmic and melodic basis for many a hit. We'll switch back and forth between El Cumbanchero in many different styles (guitar, piano, percussion, accordion, steel band and banda), and songs that swiped the Rockfort Riddim, including several from the titanic catalog of Wackie's label.

Location: 88.1 FM

For more information about this event, contact:
Patrick Bryant
subject2wmbr@gmail.com
617-253-4000

Visit: https://twitter.com/subject2chang