Henry Cole & Villa Locura

“Puerto Rican drummer Henry Cole takes Fela Kuti’s Afro Beat to the new millennium by combining the rootsy sounds of Boricua bomba and plena, Cuban rumba, and the urban energy of hip hop and rock with Lagos’ contagious dance beat”

– Latin Beat Magazine

Afrobeat - Bomba - Plena - Latin Jazz - Reggaeton

In 2018 Henry released the single, "El Diablo" with his new group Villa Locura, where he combines a wide variety of musical influences such as Puerto Rican folklore, funk, R&B, jazz, and Afro- Caribbean rhythms and creates a unique genre that bridges the traditional with the contemporary. He defines Villa Locura as "Raw, Spiritual, Interstellar Puertorican Funk!"

“The grooves he and his band created are universally understood and can move the soul of feetof people from any ethnicity.” — S. Victor Aaron --- Something Else Reviews

Henry Cole experiences music as one world, “a space beyond styles.” His primary goal is to reach a broad audience with a message of diversity, determination and unity.

Henry Cole is a shape-shifting drummer whose versatile, multicultural style positions him at the forefront of a growing wave of jazz innovation and cross-cultural 21st-century rhythms.

A Grammy award winner, master drummer and skilled arranger he draws inspiration from a long line of highly skilled Boricua Pioneers who performed in local, military and jazz bands. His sonic roots - African, Indigenous and European - have been brewing for years and have come together to create a unique, mestizo sound.

“Along the way, Henry Cole & Villa Locura will have made you smile, made you think, surprised you, and – most of all – made you want to dance. You tell me: what more can you ask of an album?” – Jam Bands.com

“Henry Cole, a young and eclectic percussionist from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, possessor of an energetic and universal sense of rhythm. Due to his sensitivity and versatility, he is one of the most requested percussionists by artists of all musical genres without the need to tie himself to one in particular.” – Mundo Jazz