El Gran Combo to headline Boston Embrace Massó Festival
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From left, Anthony García, Jerry Rivas and Virgil Rivera of El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico at Vive Latino 2026 in Mexico City. Photo: Medios y Media/Getty Images
Downtown Boston is about to get a lesson from "The University of Salsa."
- El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico will headline the Embrace Massó ¡Con Salsa! Ritmo y Sonido Block Party next month.
The big picture: The salsa band's 64-year legacy has endured across Latin America and majority-Latino pockets of the U.S., even before Bad Bunny's sample of their 1975 hit "Un Verano en Nueva York" in his latest album.
- It will also be a homecoming of sorts for trumpet player Julito Alvarado, a Berklee College alumnus who joined the band four years ago.
Driving the news: Coming off of their 2025 tour, the band will give Bostonians a once-in-a-generation performance in a block party, a first for the Embrace Massó ¡Con Salsa! International Music Festival.
- The festival, which runs 3-7pm Sept. 12, will turn Summer Street Plaza into a bustling music gathering reminiscent of San Sebastián in Puerto Rico, local salsa icon Jose Massó says.
The festival will also be a welcoming party of sorts for Embrace Boston, which recently bought a building at 33 West St., steps from the Embrace monument on the Boston Common.
- Until now, the festival had been hosted on the Common, where people could dance to the music (or sit and watch).
Yes, but: At its core, organizers say, the annual festival aims to celebrate where the Black diaspora and Latinidad intersect as Hispanic Heritage Month begins.
What they're saying: "It enables us to bring attention to the new building and that downtown — the same way the Boston Common is — is a space and a place that is for everybody," Massó tells Axios.
- "That we can feel that there is a place for us that we can celebrate and be a part of a community that is diverse," he adds.
Zoom in: It's been decades since El Gran Combo performed outdoors in Boston — an experience that Massó describes as unlike any other between the dancing and dominos.
- Rafael Ithier, the band's founder, died in December.
- Jerry Rivas, who joined in the late 1970s, is now the longest-standing member.
- The current lineup has kept the band's legacy going and even brought new life to it, most recently with Alvarado.
- "To get to this point and represent Puerto Rico, because El Gran Combo practically represents Puerto Rico everywhere, is a special and beautiful milestone in my career," says Alvarado, who has performed for four decades, in a Spanish-language interview.
Between the lines: Alvarado's tenure with El Gran Combo comes as Bad Bunny's hit single, "NUEVAYoL," introduces young Latinos to the band's New York anthem.
- El Gran Combo never stopped playing "Un Verano en Nueva York" or other hits like "Brujeria," Alvarado says.
- "For us, it's been good with the youth because now they're seeking us out more and looking to learn more about the music of Mr. Rafael Ithier and El Gran Combo."