Livestream | Puerto Rican Soundwaves: Acordeón, Bad Bunny, Pablo Casals y folklórico

Hi, I’m Dallas Vietty—accordion performer and educator based in Pennsylvania, USA. I’ve been teaching accordion online for over a decade, and I love using my livestreams to explore how culture, history, and current events shape the music we play. This week’s episode is especially close to home. The constantly rising attacks by our federal government on citizenship and immigration, and brown skinned people, free speech and the rights to assembly and protest our government, as well as specifially attention on Puerto Rican identity in the news, Bad Bunny’s upcoming Super Bowl performance, and the Puerto Rican/Latin Carribean-heavy neighborhood I live in here in the Lehigh Valley, and a mission to learn about accordion music from around the world, especially diatonic accordions!. That’s what inspired this livestream.

This episode is called “Puerto Rican Soundwaves: Acordeón, Bad Bunny, Pablo Casals y folklórico.” It’s a deep dive into the incredible, layered world of Puerto Rican sound—its history, its politics, and its pulse. Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, and its people are U.S. citizens—but without full political representation or the right to vote in presidential elections. That colonial tension runs through the island’s music, from songs of struggle and protest to rhythms of pride and celebration.

We’ll start in the mountains with música jíbara, the rural folk tradition of Puerto Rico built on poetic décimas, cuatro melodies, and heartfelt improvisation. We’ll move through the Afro-Puerto Rican roots of bomba and plena, music born from resistance, community, and joy. And of course, we’ll talk about salsa—the international sound of Puerto Rican identity, driven by legends like Héctor Lavoe, Willie Colón, and Eddie Palmieri. Along the way, we’ll trace how the accordion appears in these styles, often as a guest instrument that connects Puerto Rican rhythms to wider Caribbean and Latin traditions.

We’ll also visit the meeting point of high art and popular sound. Pablo Casals, the legendary Catalan cellist, spent his later years in Puerto Rico, founding a music festival that brought world-class classical musicians to the island.

In this session, we’ll also spend time with the phenomenon of Bad Bunny—one of the most influential artists to ever come out of Puerto Rico. His music blends reggaetón, trap, and pop with raw honesty and cultural pride, turning global attention toward Puerto Rican life and language. Together, we’ll listen to a few of his songs, talk about what makes his sound so distinctive, and explore how accordionists around the world have reimagined his music through their own instruments—transforming his beats and melodies into something fresh, expressive, and unexpected.

But this isn’t just a story of music—it’s also about resilience. For decades, the U.S. military used parts of Puerto Rico as bombing ranges, leaving behind damage both environmental and human. Out of that pain came songs that refuse to forget, rhythms that carry defiance, and melodies that heal.

Here in the Lehigh Valley, the only accordion music I ever hear outside of my house comes blasting from cars—merengue típico, loud and joyful, sometimes Dominican, sometimes Puerto Rican. A passionate and loud way to enjoy this singluar life we have here on earth - enjoy your music!!!

In this livestream, I’ll be listening, learning, and reflecting in real time. We’ll explore recordings, stories, and sounds that stretch from San Juan to Bethlehem, from mountain fiestas to city streets. Come join me as we trace the soundwaves of Puerto Rico—music that carries memory, struggle, pride, and an unshakable groove.