El Laberinto del Coco is the Afro-Puerto Rican Bomba Fusion big band led by Héctor “Coco” Barez, Calle 13’s former percussionist. Their fusion is Puerto Rican bomba with jazz, rock, and hip hop. It’s really Latin alternative.
The group has played the world’s great stages including Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, SXSW, La Sanse, and more. It is supported by the NEA National Endowment of the Arts and the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture (Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña).
El Laberinto del Coco isn’t just a bomba fusion big band, they are a force of nature.
El Laberinto del Coco Performances
NEW YORK CITY
El Laberinto del Coco big band plays Puerto Rican bomba fusion for the Secret Planet world music showcase at Drom in Manhattan’s East Village on Saturday, January 13, 2024. Concert starts at 7pm. El Laberinto plays at 9pm. $20. dromnyc.com 🇵🇷
NEW YORK CITY
El Laberinto del Coco big band plays Puerto Rican bomba fusion for globalFEST, the world music showcase in the Wu Tsai Theater at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center on Sunday, January 14, 2024, from 11:05 – 11:55pm. They are closing the festival. They saved the best for last. $60. lincolncenter.org 🇵🇷
PUERTO RICO
El Laberinto del Coco plays Puerto Rican bomba fusion for La Sanse, Puerto Rico’s big festival on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
WASHINGTON DC
El Laberinto del Coco plays Puerto Rican bomba fusion at The Clarice Smith Performing Art Center at the University of Maryland in College Park, the Washington DC suburb; on Thursday, February 1, 2024.
El Laberinto del Coco Albums
“El Laberinto del Coco” (2017) was the band’s debut. Since then, they’ve been dropping singles.
The opening song “El Laberinto del Coco” sets an almost mystical stage. “Bombuleria” takes us into a bombazo, bomba party. “Plere Maria” stretches a very traditional bomba. Listening to this makes us heartsick for Puerto Rico.
New York Venues
Héctor “Coco” Barez
Coco is very modest about this, but he was the percussionist for Calle 13, the Puerto Rican alternative hip hop group that won more Latin Grammys than anyone. He left the group just before they went on hiatus to pursue his own vision which is El Laberinto.
The labyrinth is a metaphor for a soul’s journey. There is an interesting synchronicity with Puerto Rico’s Indigenous Taíno petroglyphs of spirals that look just like labyrinths.
In the manner of Rafael Cortijo and Ismael Rivera, and more recently William Cepeda, Coco is taking Puerto Rico’s bomba tradition out into the world with El Laberinto’s bomba jazz, rock, and hip hop fusions. Our Puerto Rican heart loves his straight-ahead bomba. Someone in the group always dances a few songs. These are crowd favorites.
New York Latin Culture Magazine Editor “Kíko” Keith survived the pandemic alone by drumming in Coco’s bomba crew in Ocean Park at Ultimo Trolley in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Since then, Coco’s drumming is part of New York Latin Culture Magazine’s DNA. He taught us to always answer the call of the drum, and we do. In our own interpretation, it is a sacred call.
Puerto Rico has more than its fair share of creative artists and Coco is right in the middle of all that.