Bomba

Maelo was born in Santurce, the largest neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1931. He worked as a shoeshiner and construction worker while playing music. He began playing percussion for Conjunto Monterrey de Munchito Muley in 1948 before singing with the Orquesta Panamericana in 1952. Maelo was the lead singer for Cortijo y su Combo from 1954 to 1962, performing music like bomba and plena with Rafael Cortijo on radio and television. These were Afro Puerto Rican musical genres, and Maelo was the first Black singer to appear singing on national television in Puerto Rico.

This eclectic group is dedicated to preserving the Puerto Rican traditions of bomba and plena, two drum-focused (and African-derived) forms of traditional dance music.