In Puerto Rico,
Epiphany ( ), is an important festive holiday, and is commonly referred as
Dia de Los Tres Reyes Magos, or ''Three Kings' Day''. It is traditional for children to fill a box with fresh grass or hay and put it underneath their bed, for the Wise Men's horses. In Puerto Rico many artisans make commemorative historical figures of the Magi on horseback. The Three Wise Men of Puerto Rico, according to local tradition, arrive on horseback instead of camels as in other countries where the custom is also ingrained. The three kings will then take the grass to feed the horses and will leave gifts under the bed as a reward. These traditions are analogous to the customs of children leaving mince pies and sherry out for
Father Christmas in Western Europe or leaving milk and cookies for
Santa Claus in the United States. On the day before the feast (January 5), the "Rosario de Reyes" or "Promesa de Reyes" is celebrated with songs (aguinaldos) promised to be sung to the Kings, usually before a little table with figures of the Nativity and the Kings or with the Kings alone and their camels. This celebration is accompanied with a chicken soup, snacks, and drinks.
Aguinaldo On January 06, 2023, El Dia de los Tres Reyes Magos, Sesiones Desde La Loma Ep. 33 featured Grupo Mapeyé: Orquesta Criolla Nacional de Puerto Rico playing typical
aguinaldo. In
Puerto Rico, the
aguinaldo is a musical gift offered during the
Christmas season and is a tradition inherited from the island's Spanish colonizers. As a musical gift, aguinaldos are mostly played by "parranderos" or "trullas" during the Christmas holidays. While , showing up at a residence late at night, with a group of
Christmas carolers, is a practice that is slowly being lost in Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rican album debuted in the top 10 Billboard Tropical Albums in December 2019. In 2016, Grupo Mapeyé, was nominated in
Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2016 with "En Las Islas Canarias" in the
17th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Originally,
aguinaldos were "
villancicos" with strong religious connotations but soon evolved to "
coplas" (quartets) and "decimas" (ten-verses compositions) about all kinds of everyday topics. Aguinaldos were played with typical instruments such as the
bordonúa, a
tiple, a
cuatro, a carracho or
güiro, a
cowbell,
barriles de bomba, an
accordion, and
maracas. With bordonua players becoming more difficult to find, the
guitar became a staple accompanying the cuatro. Today, panderos (also known as "
pleneras"), brass instruments and whatever makes noise, are used. Aguinaldos are also played at Christmas church celebrations. Episode 55 feature guest
Olga Tañón a
Puerto Rican singer. Over the course of her career, she has earned two
Grammy Awards, three
Latin Grammy Awards, and 29
Premio Lo Nuestro Awards. She has sold over five million copies of her albums.
Transition and Creation On April 14, 2023 Norberto released a musical production titled "Transición y Creación" that reflected the evolution of Norberto Vélez as a singer, composer and producer. Transición y Creación has nine unpublished songs, all authored by the singer. In this production, the salsa public had the opportunity to listen to Norberto, but also to his bandmates Carlos García and Jota Ruiz, with whom he also shared composition credits on two songs. ==Sesiones Desde La Loma YouTube Videos==