Latin Music U.S.A. – PBS

A four-part documentary series, it highlights the great American music created by Latinos and celebrates the Latin rhythms at the heart of jazz, rock, country, and rhythm and blues. It is a fresh take on American musical history, reaching across five decades to portray the rich mix of sounds created by Latinos and embraced by all. Narrated by Jimmy Smitts. Bobby Sanabria, featured narrator and collaborator with producers, WGBH and BBC. This is also a remarkable and valuable tool for teaching, lecturing, and demonstrating as well as enjoying!

BRIDGES: The rise of Latin jazz with the great Machito and the explosion of the mambo with Pérez Prado. Latin music infiltrates R&B and rock throughout the 1960s, from The Drifters to Santana and beyond.

THE SALSA REVOLUTION: Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York reinvent Cuban and Puerto Rican rhythms,adding elements from soul and jazz to create salsa. Follow the rise and fall of legendary Fania Records with famed artists, Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, and Rubén Blades.

THE CHICANO WAVE: From Ritchie Valens and Freddy Fender to Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, and Selena, a new generation of Mexican Americans raised on rock, rhythm and blues, and country music expresses their cultural identity through Chicano rock, Latin rock, and Tejano.

DIVAS & SUPERSTARS:
Latin pop explodes with the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Shakira, and Gloria Estefan. But as studios concentrate on star-driven pop, Latino youth gravitate toward the urban fusions of reggaetón artists like Daddy Yankee and rapper, Pitbull, while rock en español star, Juanes, becomes a global phenomenon.

Latin Music USA | PBS

Watch Full Episodes Online of Latin Music USA on PBS