Synopsis

Philly Rumba is a short documentary about a group of African American men in Philadelphia who gravitated toward Cuban Rumba as an expression of their African roots during the Civil Rights and Pan African Eras. 50 years later, they continue to play Rumba together, proving that music can create community and solidarity in difficult times.

BackStory

The rhythms of Rumba originate from West Africa, and accompanied enslaved Africans to Cuba when forcibly abducted from their homeland.

Rumba is not just a musical style, it’s a means of gathering. Afterall, rumba means “party” in Spanish. Several percussionists can play rumba at a time, and audience members also participate by singing the chorus and dancing. Rumba is meant to bring people together, to express joy, anger and everything in between.

Most of the rumba you’ll hear in this documentary is not rumba in its pure form. It’s Philly Rumba! Fifty years ago, musicians in Philly - African American, Latinx and others, were inspired to form groups like Little Afrika and the Rumba Brothers when they first heard the addictive rhythms of rumba. They replicated the sounds, wrote their own lyrics in English, and sometimes played with no vocals at all. As time went on, formal elements of rumba such as specific rhythms, traditional songs and instruments like the clave rightfully found their way into the music.

As time goes on, the mainstay of Rumba musicians are becoming elders. While there is a new generation picking up the baton, we are documenting the folklore of this tradition in order to preserve local history and pass it down to future generations.

Our community partner for this film is the Timbalona Collective. TIMBALONA Collective is a percussion ensemble in its core, with a focus on folklore and popular music from the Caribbean and Latin America.