Salsa’s Musical Pantheon: A Guide to San Juan’s Monument to Rhythm

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San Juan audio tour: Salsa’s Musical Pantheon: A Guide to San Juan’s Monument to Rhythm

This is a 0.8mi walking tour

It takes an average of 75 mins to complete.

San Juan

Puerto Rico

$9.99

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About the Tour

Many of Puerto Rico’s – and the world’s – most important salsa artists have been laid to rest in San Juan’s ‘Pantheon of Salsa’, officially called Cementerio de Villa Palmeras or Cemetery of Villa Palmeras.

On this walking tour through the cemetery, you’ll explore salsa’s heritage, learn its rich history, and pay your respects at the burial sites of some of the musicians, dancers, singers, and songwriters behind this world-renowned musical genre.

The tour starts at the entrance of the cemetery, one of the most sacred spaces for Puerto Rican Salsa enthusiasts. You’ll visit Rafael Cortijo’s tomb, the final resting place of perhaps the most influential salsa musician in Puerto Rico, and hear about how thousands of people accompanied his casket on the day of his funeral. As you travel down Cemetery Street, you’ll learn about the colorful history of Salsa and how it traces its roots to Afro-Caribbean influences.

Along the way, you’ll have a chance to:

See the mausoleum of Ismael Rivera, the most important salsa singer, dancer, and creator extraordinaire in history, and hear about his origins as a bricklayer
Find out how Don Rafael Cepeda fought to preserve the legacy of salsa and how he was seen as the art form’s patriarch
Discover the tombs of Master percussionists like Angel “Cachete” Maldonado, singers like Pedro “Pellín” Rodriguez, band leader Tommy Olivencia, and many more
Grasp Salsa’s significance as an art form of resistance
Understand the key characteristics of the Puerto Rican Salsa movement with its Bomba and Plena musical influences
Connect the dots between salsa and its relationship with race, marginalization, religion, and political persecution

By the end of this tour, you’ll know all about the cemetery’s origins as a graveyard for white Europeans, and how it transformed into the Pantheon of Salsa. You'll have a deeper appreciation for all things salsa and the people who shaped it.

Salsa is a popular and well-studied musical genre worldwide and we would like to thank the many sources and references that helped us to research this tour, including the historians from La Sociedad Histórica de Villa Palmeras and the Cepeda Family. Part of your contribution will help this project with the maintenance and upkeep of the tombs, green areas, flags, and flowers.

Tour Producer

Raul Moris

5 tours

Hello! My name is Prof. Raúl "Gorras" Moris, I was born and raised in The Bronx and now I have lived in Puerto Rico for more than twenty-five years.

I consider myself a Historian, performer, poet, artist, social worker and I am the author of the first book on Reggaeton "The History of Rap and Reggaeton in Puerto Rico 2000". I have also traveled the world as and artist, activist and education worldwide.

I have also used poetry, art, rap and reggaeton in healing workshops, in social struggles and in education during catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, for example

¡Hola! Mi nombre es Prof. Raúl "Gorras" Moris, nací y crecí en El Bronx y ahora vivo en Puerto Rico desde hace más de veinticinco años.

Soy un Historiador, performero, intérprete, poeta, artista, trabajador social y autor del primer libro sobre Reggaetón "La Historia del Rap y Reggaetón en Puerto Rico 2000". También he viajado por el mundo educando con diferentes proyectos artisticos.

También he utilizado la poesía, baile, arte, el rap y el reggaetón en talleres de sanación, en luchas sociales y en educación durante eventos catastróficos como el huracán Katrina en Luisiana por ejemplo.

Preview Location

Location 18

Ismael Rivera and beyond

Turn left just ahead to reach the grave of Ismael Rivera, by the palm tree and on the floor you should see a marked arrow.

The salsa concept of Sonear or Sonera is translated to having the ability to create, improvising in verse, in song, while living within rhythm. An i... Turn left just ahead to reach the grave of Ismael Rivera, by the palm tree and on the floor you should see a marked arrow.

The salsa concept of Sonear or Sonera is translated to having the ability to create, improvising in verse, in song, while living within rhythm. An improviser or soneador, he or she will do this on the fly, at the moment, or in response live, the creating of verses with structure, have to make sense. A very rare ability in music and considered a gifted talent.

Ismael Rivera, nicknamed "El Sonero Mayor", the best of the best with this talent, was born on October 5, 1931 in the old San Mateo de Cangrejos, Santurce, Puerto Rico. Many consider Maelo the most influential singer in Salsa history without a doubt. People worldwide make the journey to this grave site just to pay respects for his contribution with Rafael Cortijo to Salsa. The Cortijo y su Combo band were literally the first black faces on television, bringing the urban street music to audiences all over the island. During their first live appearance performance on Puerto Rican national television, he and the rest of the orchestra where presented by a racist white-face performer. The US colonies under military control suffered the same racist social and public policy happening on in the mainland states.

As a child El Sonero Mayor, was distinguished by a passionate interest in music and spent his time improvising with cans and sticks. At an early age he had to abandon his studies to earn some money as a shoe shiner and contributed to the support of the home. At the age of 16 he started as a bricklayer, although he spent his time singing and playing in the streets that formed on Calle Calma and other sectors of Santurce Cangrejero, together with his friend and compadre Rafael Cortijo. El Brujo de Boriken became known in all corners of the Island, and later achieved international fame. In 1954 he joined Rafael Cortijo's group, with whom he would record 17 albums. With the Combo de Cortijo he had countless hits, among them "El bombón de Elena", by Don Rafael Cepeda, as well as "El negro bembón", "Juan José", "Besitos de coco", "Palo que tú me das ", "Get off the road Perico", "Oriza", "El chivo de la bell", "Maquinolandera", "El yoyo", "María Teresa" and "Yo soy del campo", among others. It was the permanent orchestra of the popular "La Taberna India" and was sought after by luxury hotels and large dance centers of the time, including the Palladium Ball Room.

At the end of the 50s, la bomba and plena managed to enter the most popular dance halls, thanks to the combo of Cortijo and its singer Ismael. Such was the amazement at the musical phenomenon created by Ismael and Cortijo, attracted by the finesse of their clear improvisations and exceptional key, that the Bárbaro del Ritmo, Benny Moré, baptized him as El Sonero Mayor, a name that would follow him throughout his glorious career. In New York, the Latin American colony listened to and danced to their music because it reminded them of who they were, while the Puerto Rican residents of the city felt like they were back in their homeland. During those years the band alternated with the big orchestras that delighted the dancers in the famous Palladium Ball Room, among them Tito Rodríguez, Tito Puente and Pérez Prado. After a problem with the law, Maelo was separated from society and sent to serve his sentence in the prison rehabilitation program in Lexington, Kentucky, where he remained confined for nearly four years. A compatriot of his, Bobby Capó, felt Ismael's confinement as his own, and composed a number for him that would become the anthem of the inmates: "Las Tumbas."

He also recorded with Fania All Star when its owners Jerry Masucci and Johnny Pacheco bought the Tico Alegre label and managed to capture a series of rebellious musicians. In 1979 he was the highest paid artist by that record company, with the exception of Celia Cruz. Among his hits with Fania are the version of "El Nazareno" with Papo Lucca on piano, and "Cúcala", a duet with Celia Cruz.

Ismael's enormous success as a singer and sonero overshadowed his ability as a composer. We'll soon visit a burial site that defines racial and economy conflicts a few decades before Salsa's manifestation as a continuation of Bomba and Plenas historical resistance. "Besito de coco", "Here I am, I've already arrived", "Arrecotín arrecotán", "He who does not suffer does not live" and "La cumbita", among others.

In August 1974 there was a historic reunion at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, between Cortijo and Ismael and the former members of their band, then directed by Rafael Ithier under the name of El Gran Combo.

A few days before, after five in the afternoon, Maelo was at home accompanied by Doña Margot, when he suddenly had a heart attack. At that moment he opened his eyes, hugged his mother, squeezed her hands and shortly after he died. Ismael Rivera contribution to salsa music, racial equality, resilience and resistance worldwide is incalculable.

When you're ready, retrace your steps back to the main path, and turn right to continue along it. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Cementerio de Villa Palmeras
Tumba de Rafael Cortijo
Graves of Ismael Rivera
Cano Estremera
Rafael Cepedas

Getting There

Route Overview

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Start location
CXQ2+X7P, Cemetery St, San Juan, 00915, Puerto Rico
Total distance

1km
Final location
Cemetery St, San Juan, 00915, Puerto Rico
Distance back to start location

306.76m

Directions to Starting Point

Avenida Eduardo Conde, Villa Palmeras, Santurce (San Mateo de Cangrejos)
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00915 United States

Coordinates: 18.43856, -66.04989
https://maps.app.goo.gl/znf8x7iHbBFmPT9AA

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

Places near to visit are La Placita de Santurce (live salsa dansing, restaurants and local mingling), La Casita Blanca Restaurant, La Plaza de los Salseros (Shrine Plaza of Salseros park) and The Parroquia San Mateo de Cangrejeros.

Best time of day

Morning is the best time to visit. The Cemetery is open from;

Monday thru Fridays 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM

Saturday: 8 AM to 12 Noon

Sunday: CLOSED

Precautions

Please wear conferrable clothing and shoes. Some of the paths in the cemetery are rocky and not so well preserved. Bring water, sun block and maybe a hat for your sun protection.

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