Dr. Miriam Padilla, one of about 12,000 or so Utahns who call themselves Puerto Rican, knows Utah is pretty distant. So she learned to sing and dance what's called Bomba.

Dance to drums of the African diaspora, whose rhythms resound in Latin jazz, mambo, and Bomba del Chota. Imagine pulling up a velvet bench to Madame Lillian Evanti's custom-built Fischer piano. Hear ...