Los Pleneros de la 21 presents:

Alex Apolo Ayala’s Afro-Puerto Rican Jazz Big Band Celebrates Los Pleneros de la 21

Saturday, October 7th | 7pm

Tickets on sale now at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36532/performance/11354738

Puerto Rican born bass player, Alex Apolo Ayala is perhaps one of today’s most talented latin music and jazz musicians. With a musical foregrounding rooted in Puerto Rico, Ayala has been living in NYC since 2013, where he has piqued his musical curiosities through projects that explore the synchronicities of jazz, salsa, big band and the ancestral sounds of his country - Afro-Puerto Rican bomba and plena. Coming from the successes of his bomba-jazz fusion  album, “the Bámbula Project”, Ayala furthers his explorations by taking on the treasured repertoire of Grammy nominated Los Pleneros de la 21. As the current Musical Director of the LP21 ensemble, Ayala, under the blessing of LP21 Founder/Director, Juan Gutiérrez, takes creative license of some of the group’s signature songs, to reimagine them as never heard before: A Big Band concept. To add to the repertoire of newly arranged favorites, Apolo will unveil two of his own creations, a debut especially composed for this musical evening. The Pregones Theater will be filled with the dynamic sounds of nearly 25 musicians, including members of the Pleneros de la 21 to put on an unprecedented musical extravaganza - one that not only pays tribute to the 40 years of the LP21 sound, but which also paves the way for new a musical habitat for bomba and plena. 

This concert is part of Los Pleneros de la 21’s Artist Space At Pregones residency and  40 AÑOS DE BOMBA, PLENA Y MÁS - a special ten day celebration that honors four decades of creating, building and fomenting Boricua traditions, communities, and music. For more information about this event or other 40 Anniversary programs: www.lp21.org/los40dela21 

This event is made possible by Pregones/PRTT and the ASAP (Artist Space At Pregones program) and support from the New York State Council on the Arts, The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Creatives Rebuild NY, a project of the Tides Center, and people like you.