Bomba (Ecuador)
Encyclopedia
Bomba or Bomba del Chota is an Afro-Ecuadorian music
al form from the Chota Valley area of Ecuador
in the province of Imbabura
and Carchi. Its origins can be traced back to Africa via the middle passage
and the use of African slave
labor during the country's colonial period. Africans brought to labor as slaves in Ecuador brought with them this music form heavily influenced from the Bantu cultures of the Congo
. The people dance in pairs to the drums and use improvisation to build relationships between the dancer and lead drummer.
This music tends to have a prominent Spanish, mestizo and indigenous influence in the melodies. It could go from a mid tempo to a very fast rhythm. It is usually played with guitars along with the main local instrument which is also called bomba which is a drum along with a guiro
and sometimes bombo
s and bongos
. A variation of it is la banda mocha which are groups that play bomba with a bombo, guiro and plant leafs to give melody.
Recently it is enjoying some national exposure but outside of the Chota Valley it is mostly popular in cities such as Quito
and Ibarra
which have important concentrations of afro-chotan people. In these cities sometimes it is played in discothèques and has some public performances as well as popularity among mestizo and indigenous people.
The word bomba is most likely of Bantu
origin.
Chota Madre
Chota Madre is a New York City-based band who have been recognized as the first group of musicians to play the musical style "bomba" outside of Ecuador. The band initiated in 2010, beginning with three members, Chris Teran, Chris Rungoo, and Jose Juan Paredes. The band has achieved worldwide acclaim by interpreting classic bomba songs and fusing the musical rhythm with other popular and traditional musical genres. Band members consist of musicians from all over Ecuador, as well as other Latin American countries.
The primary mission of Chota Madre is to educate and offer the traditional musical form to the masses. The band has recently gained popularity with their recent covers of "Aicha" and "Pasito Tun Tun". The band has continued to gain popularity for reviving the traditional music form that has been in decline over recent years through Youtube, Facebook, and live performances through out the United States. The band's tendentious name is said to be in homage of the Chota valley, where the musical form is most prominent.
List of Bomba Musicians
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
al form from the Chota Valley area of Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
in the province of Imbabura
Imbabura
Word Imbabura can refer to these places in Ecuador:*Imbabura Province*Imbabura Volcano...
and Carchi. Its origins can be traced back to Africa via the middle passage
Middle Passage
The Middle Passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of people from Africa were shipped to the New World, as part of the Atlantic slave trade...
and the use of African slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
labor during the country's colonial period. Africans brought to labor as slaves in Ecuador brought with them this music form heavily influenced from the Bantu cultures of the Congo
Congo Basin
The Congo Basin is the sedimentary basin that is the drainage of the Congo River of west equatorial Africa. The basin begins in the highlands of the East African Rift system with input from the Chambeshi River, the Uele and Ubangi Rivers in the upper reaches and the Lualaba River draining wetlands...
. The people dance in pairs to the drums and use improvisation to build relationships between the dancer and lead drummer.
This music tends to have a prominent Spanish, mestizo and indigenous influence in the melodies. It could go from a mid tempo to a very fast rhythm. It is usually played with guitars along with the main local instrument which is also called bomba which is a drum along with a guiro
Güiro
The güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
and sometimes bombo
Bombo
Bombo is a British computer game published by Rino for the Commodore 64.-Plot:Taken from the game's instructions:A wave of insurrection has left the earth littered with bombs primed to explode and destroy mankind.Your commission is to clear the pyramids of ancient Egypt, castles of medieval Britain...
s and bongos
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
. A variation of it is la banda mocha which are groups that play bomba with a bombo, guiro and plant leafs to give melody.
Recently it is enjoying some national exposure but outside of the Chota Valley it is mostly popular in cities such as Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
and Ibarra
Ibarra, Ecuador
Ibarra is a city in northern Ecuador and the capital of the Imbabura Province. It lies at the foot of the Imbabura Volcano and on the left bank of the Tahuando river. It is about northeast of Ecuador's capital Quito....
which have important concentrations of afro-chotan people. In these cities sometimes it is played in discothèques and has some public performances as well as popularity among mestizo and indigenous people.
The word bomba is most likely of Bantu
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
origin.
Chota Madre
Chota Madre is a New York City-based band who have been recognized as the first group of musicians to play the musical style "bomba" outside of Ecuador. The band initiated in 2010, beginning with three members, Chris Teran, Chris Rungoo, and Jose Juan Paredes. The band has achieved worldwide acclaim by interpreting classic bomba songs and fusing the musical rhythm with other popular and traditional musical genres. Band members consist of musicians from all over Ecuador, as well as other Latin American countries.
The primary mission of Chota Madre is to educate and offer the traditional musical form to the masses. The band has recently gained popularity with their recent covers of "Aicha" and "Pasito Tun Tun". The band has continued to gain popularity for reviving the traditional music form that has been in decline over recent years through Youtube, Facebook, and live performances through out the United States. The band's tendentious name is said to be in homage of the Chota valley, where the musical form is most prominent.
List of Bomba Musicians
- Banda Mocha
- Beatriz Congo
- Chota Madre
- Edgar Gonzalon "Negrito de la Salsa"
- Grupo Mahelen
- Marabu
- Mario Congo
- Nery Padilla
- Oro Negro
- Poder Negro