LOS PLENEROS DE LA 21, INC.

~ Uniting Community Building and Cultural Equity through Music since 1983 ~ Los Pleneros de la 21, the premier Spanish Harlem-based performing ensemble and nonprofit community organization, was founded in 1983 by Juan Gutirrez (National Endowment on the Arts Heritage Fellow, 1996) and Marcial Reyes Arvelo. Having toured extensively both nationally and internationally for nearly three decades, Los Pleneros are considered by many as New Yorks preeminent Bomba and Plena ambassadors to the world, bringing Puerto Rican culture and music to Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Latin America, Australia, Berlin, The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kremlin (former Soviet Union) and countless other international cities and prominent venues. The group, an exceptional intergenerational mix of Puerto Rican Folk Masters and professional musicians, all united in their common cause to expose the importance of traditional Puerto Rican music, has pioneered the road for Bomba and Plena performance. Through their recordings, performances and musical productions, LP21s work also contributes to expanding platforms for the continued performance, learning and the presentation of Bomba and Plenapaving the way for many other musicians who now share their stage. Their landmark community-based programming has created a common space for the recognition, education and practice of Puerto Rican culture and identity, having educated thousands of individuals, young and old, and inspiring dozens of performing groups and aspiring musicians. After more than 28 years of performances and a Grammy nomination for their groundbreaking Para Todos Ustedes Album (Smithsonian Folkways), LP21 remains the dynamic family and intergenerational group of musicians and cultural leaders from East Harlem, the South Bronx and many of NYCs own local communities.

For more information on LP21: 212-427-5221,

pleneros21@gmail.com
BOMBA & PLENA PARA TODOS USTEDES!
1680 Lexington Avenue, Room 209 New York, NY 10029 T: 212.427.5221 F: 212.427.5339 www.losplenerosdela21.org Facebook Watch us on YouTube Follow us on Twitter

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LP21 PRINCIPAL ARTISTS

Los Pleneros de la 21s ensemble includes a diverse and intergenerational mix of versed arts educators, masterful traditional musicians and talented professional musicians. All artists participate in several of LP21s Bomba & Plena for All programming and performances. They have a combined career of over 35 years teaching experience and professional music careers spanning since the 1970s.

Juan J. Gutirrez Rodrguez

(LP21 Founder, Director // Master Percussionist and Musician): Juan Jos 'Juango' Gutirrez-Rodrguez is LP21s Director and founder. A percussionist, composer and arranger, Juan was reared in the musical street traditions of the San Juan neighborhoods. He studied the fundaments of music at Escuela Libre de Msica and went on to study classical percussion at the Conservatorio de Msica in Hato Rey, which provided him with the opportunity to become a member of the Puerto Rican Symphony Orchestra. After he moved to New York City with his wife Luz in 1976, he continued his music education at the Manhattan School of Music where he received a Diploma of Percussion with a Minor in piano. In 1984, he received a Masters in Music Education from Lehman College. While working as a Broadway percussionist, he began studying with renowned Master plena practitioner and artisan Marcial Reyes Arvelo. In 1983, he co-formed Los Pleneros de la 21 in association with his mentor. Juango received the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in 1996. He is the mastermind behind the outstanding trajectory and recording works of Los Pleneros de la 21; including LP21s most recent the Smithsonian Folkways release Para Todos Ustedes/For All of You, nominated for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Traditional World Music Album. Juangos vast musical experience includes recordings, radio, and television shows as well as touring. He has recorded and performed with renowned artists like Louis Garcia, Bobby Valentn, Angel Cuco Pea, Ricardo Ray, David Snchez, Eddie Palmieri, Paul Simon, Jennifer Holiday, Patty Labelle, Miguel Zenn, Angel Papo Vzquez, William Cepeda, Elio Villafanca, Viento de Agua, Taller Sic, Danny Rivera, Lucesita Bentez, Antonio Cabn Vale El Topo, Cheo Feliciano, Ismael Miranda, Vitn Aviles, Santitos Coln, Los Hispanos, Angel Luis Torruellas, Johnny Albino, Vctor Montaez, Orquesta Sinfnica de Puerto Rico, Orquesta Filarmnica de Puerto Rico, and Opera de Puerto Rico.

Jos Rivera (Percussion and Vocals)

Jos Rivera has been at the forefront of bringing traditional music of Puerto Rico to diverse audiences everywhere for more than 23 years. He has been a member of Los Pleneros de la 21 along with groups like Estampa Criolla and as of late, Los Amigos de la Plena that focus on the widespread recognition of this energetic art form. Jos, an artisan and musician, is the son of Ramn Chn Rivera a former leading exponent of Puerto Ricos Plena. Joss commitment to this music and its roots in the community have been part of the Smithsonian Museum Tribute to Puerto Rican cultural where he has demonstrated the building of a casita. Jos has also been responsible for starting Latino programs during his stint in the US Army where he taught Plena to Puerto Rican troops while stationed in Germany. Jos has recorded with artists like Pepe Castillo and Norman Durham and with Los Pleneros de la 21. Jos was also one of the first teachers to grace the Bomba and Plena Childrens Workshop founded by Los Pleneros de la 21. Currently, Jos has formed his own group called Los Amigos de la Plena, touring locally throughout New York when he is not on the road with Los Pleneros de la 21.

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Alexander LaSalle (Percussion and Vocals)

Alexander LaSalle, from Moca, Puerto Rico, is the founder and musical director of Alma Moyo. He is a skilled percussionist, songwriter and singer whose versatile musical talents lend themselves to singing Afro-Boricua, Afro-Dominican, Afro- Cuban and Haitian traditional music, including Rara, Palo and Salve, Bomba, Plena, and Msica Jbara. Alex is fluent in the Afro-Cuban Kongo language and an avid cultural researcher and oral historian. He has presented lectures on Afro-Puerto Rican spirituality and culture and Pan-Caribbean and African cultural connections for educators and students at Yale University, El Centro de Estudio Avanzados de Puerto Rico, Long Island University, Columbia University, New York University, Tufts University among others. A teaching artist in the public schools of New York City, Alex has taught Pre-K through adult age populations in the South Bronx and City-wide. Alex has performed with such groups as William Cepeda's Afro-Boricua, Pa'lo Monte, Nchila Ngoma Mayombe, La 21 Division, Son del Batey, and Los Tambores de Flix Alduen, and now Los Pleneros de la 21. Alexs writings on anthropological research on Bomba traditions from Puerto Rico have been published in several newsletters and are used in various Caribbean studies courses.

Julia Loza Gutirrez-Rivera (Dance Instructor):

Julia L. Gutirrez-Rivera was weaned as a child on Bomba/Plena, receiving formal training as a part of LP21s Children's Workshops' Pioneer Class. She is now recognized as one of NYC's premier Bomba & Plena dancers. Throughout her childhood, Julia has been taught by many of NY's Bomba & Plena luminaries, including founding LP21 members. Over the years, she continued to develop her art, integrating diverse regional & generational influences in her dance as a performer and teaching artist with Los Pleneros de la 21, Alma Moyo, Bmbula and The Legacy Circles Womyns Drum Cypher. As LP21s Program Director and main dance instructor, she has been pivotal in developing and enhancing their local programs and in revitalizing the groups artistic endeavors and touring. Since 2003, she has taught dance to hundreds of all ages and backgrounds in and out of schools with LP21, Alma Moyo, La Tribu, and Ballet Hispnico. As an emerging cultural leader, Julia bridges her passion for dance, music and culture with community and arts advocacy as a consultant for community/grassroots groups and artists, including the Association of Hispanic Arts, Hostos Center for Arts & Culture, among others. She has an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Milano, the New School in Nonprofit Management and Urban Policy.

Camilo Ernesto Molina Gaetn (Percussion):

At 21 years old, Camilo is already an excellent musician with an impressive performing history and a demonstrated talent in a wide range of genres and percussion instruments. Having first played a drum at the tender age of 2, Camilo at a very early age demonstrated a unique talent, passion and capability to master music and percussion instruments. He blossomed quickly into a talented percussionist, taking 3rd place in the renowned Thelonious Monk International Percussion & Afro-Latin Competition when he was just 10 years old. It was at that same age he joined the LP21 performing ensemble becoming the youngest artist ever to join the accomplished group. He has since continued to expand his horizons, performing with groups such as Alma Moyo, Ilu Aye, YerbaBuena, and rising pop artist Iffy the Bad Man, among many more individual musicians and cultural ensembles. Camilo has studied under the guise of LP21 master artists, and master percussionist Louis Bauzo, he is also a graduate of LP21s Bomba & Plena Childrens Workshops, and is now a guest instructor. He continues to study and grow as a musician and is a prime example of the promising future of traditional arts and Latin percussion.

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Nelson Mateo Gonzlez (Dance/Percussion): This 20 year-old versatile dancer /percussionist was first nurtured by his grandfather, Benny Ayala, the master plenero and one of the originals of El Rincn Criollo (Bomba/Plena haven in the South Bronx). Mateo is a graduate of LP21s Childrens Workshop and has flourished as a member of this group and throughout the broader NYC music community. He was immersed in an environment filled with Puerto Rican folk music since the very beginning, and formally began studying music at the Harbor Conservatory under the tutelage of the great musician Johnny Almendra. Since then, he has become an accomplished artist on all Latin percussion instruments. Mateo is equally gifted as a dancer and is a member of Danza Fiesta, the popular dance troupe led by Gilda Rivera Pantojas. He is also featured with Aurora y Zon del Barrio, and with The Bobby Sanabria Orchestra. As a recipient of the 2010-11 Tito Puente Scholarship Fund for his commitment and dedication to preserving Puerto Rican traditional music, Mateo is recently featured in Hostos Center for the Arts and Cultures Young Roots Performance Series Donald Nicks (Bass): Born and raised in New York City, Donald Nicks is a consummate bass player utilizing skills normally reserved for upright players on an electric. He has performed with countless prominent musicians internationally for over 20 years and has brought his unique style to LP21 since 1984, helping to create the groups niche sound of infusing contemporary/jazz undertones in perfect balance with traditional expressions. Few bass players are capable of translating technique in this respect. Donald uses these unique talents and has performed and recorded in many musical styles, from jazz, blues, Salsa and funk to Bomba and Plena from Puerto Rico. He studied with jazz bassist Lyle and Buster Williams. While majoring in music at Queens College (CUNY) he also studied jazz theory and harmony at the Workshop in Harlem and Latin music at the East Harlem Music School. He has recorded and toured with such luminaries as Charles Earland Roy Ayers, Noel Pointer, Bobby Humphrey, Ray Mantilla, Bobby Sanabria, Lonnie Liston Smith, and Johnny Colon. Elio Villafranca (Piano): Born and raised in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, Elio is an accomplished musician, composer and educator who has worked with renowned artists including Pat Martino, Wynton Marsalis, and Johnny Pacheco, among many others. The fiery instrumentalist-composer is internationally acclaimed for his genre-bending approach to modern Latin Jazz, and has released three widely acclaimed albums as a bandleader. He has performed at world-renowned venues and events including the Blue Note Jazz Festival in Ghent, Belgium; the Blue Note Jazz Club in Milan and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, the North Sea Jazz Festival at The Hague, Holland, the Guinness Jazz Festival. He is the recipient of the NFA/Heineken Green Ribbon Master Artist Music Grant Award and his debut album Incantations/Encantaciones was named top 50 Best Jazz albums of 2003 (Jazz Times Magazine). Elio joined LP21 ensemble in 2009 where he has contributed grandly with his powerful instrumental approach as well as with his unique arranging style. Ivan Renta (Reeds): Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Ivan is one of todays most talented emerging Saxophonists and Jazz Players. With a degree from Mannes and New School and, Ivans introduction to Jazz harmony and improvisation began in his native Coamo with his teacher Jose "Cheguito" Encarnacin. He has performed with Jazz and musical luminaries including Willie Colon, Wynton Marsalis, Ray Barreto, Paquito D' Rivera, Dave Valentin, Joe Lovano, The Temptations, Bebo Valdez, Arturo O'Farill, Ralph Irizarry, Mario Rivera, John Benitez, Luis Bonilla, Oscar Hernandez, whom he has toured internationally and contributed to several poignant music albums, including the Grammy winning homage album by Tito Puente, Masterpiece. Ivan is featured with LP21 band since 2010, which he has performed and toured since 2010. LP21 Artist and Group Biographies_11/2011

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