Alt.Latino: Joy and resistance, plus Felix shares some of his favorite playlists

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Songs Considered – "Alt.Latino: Joy and Resistance, Plus Felix Shares Some of His Favorite Playlists"

Release Date: July 16, 2025
Host: Felix Contreras and Ana Maria Sayer
Podcast: Alt.Latino, NPR Music

---

1. Introduction and Festival Experience

[00:15] Felix Contreras:
The episode kicks off with hosts Felix Contreras and Ana Maria Sayer delving into Felix's recent experience at the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. For the first time, the venue hosted a two-day Latin music festival featuring artists regularly showcased on their show, including Juanes and Carlos Vives as headliners.

Key Highlights:

• Rainstorm Challenge:
  Felix recounts how a massive rainstorm disrupted the Saturday performances, leading to the relocation of stages under the main tent. This unexpected event forced attendees to seek shelter, fostering a sense of solidarity among the Latino community amidst challenging times.

• Themes of Joy and Resistance:
  Amidst the chaos, Felix observed a prevailing spirit of resilience. A poignant moment occurred when a woman, soaked by the rain, declared, "We're survivors. It's just rain. We're survivors" (00:38). This sentiment echoed throughout the festival, with artists like Connie Garcia and Juanes emphasizing maintaining a collective positive attitude as a form of subtle resistance.

• Emotional Performances:
  The performances that day were deeply emotional, with Connie Garcia and Juanes delivering heartfelt renditions that transcended overt political statements, instead focusing on the power of joy and collective determination.

[02:59] Ana Maria Sayer:
Ana reflects on the recurring theme of "joy is our resistance," highlighting its significance in Latin American derivative music. She connects this to various artists and songs that embody this concept, emphasizing the role of love and joy in fostering resilience.

---

2. The Role of Love in Latin Music

[03:21] Ana Maria Sayer:
Ana expands on the idea that love serves as a fundamental mechanism in Latin music, exploring its multifaceted expressions—from joy to heartbreak. She cites examples like Danny Ocean's "Merre Guso," originally about an ex-girlfriend but interpreted as commentary on societal rejection, and performances by Ella Tober, Planta Industrial, and Camilo that exude intense emotional energy.

Notable Quote:
“We have to fall back on stuff that we already know to keep us going,” says Felix, emphasizing the importance of familiar music in sustaining collective spirit (05:06).

---

3. Sharing Favorite Playlists

Felix's Playlists Exploration:

Felix, an avid playlist curator with over 400 Spotify playlists, introduces listeners to his diverse musical selections. He emphasizes the joy found in both discovering new music and revisiting beloved tracks.

• La Belleza de los Ancestrals:
  A blend of Lido Pimienta's "La Vieza" and Equis Alfonso's "Ancestros Sinfonicos," showcasing orchestral elements intertwined with folkloric sounds.

  [12:18] Ana Maria Sayer:
  Ana praises the seamless integration of folkloric elements with European symphony orchestration, noting how both artists maintain their indigenous roots while experimenting with new musical landscapes.

• Simon Diaz Tribute:
  Celebrating Venezuelan folkloric culture, Ana highlights Simon Diaz's "Tonada Luna Yen," underscoring its homage to nature and simplistic beauty.

  [15:02] Ana Maria Sayer:
  "Every song is an homage to nature. It's like he got as close to touching perfection as an artist can," Ana remarks, reflecting on Diaz's commitment to capturing natural beauty through music.

• Walking With Spain, Vox Feminina:
  Felix introduces a collection featuring vocalists like Martirio, Sylvia Perez Cruz, and Maria Jose Yergo, blending traditional Spanish sounds with modern influences.

  [23:34] Ana Maria Sayer:
  Ana discusses the powerful simplicity in songs like Ataquemos' "Vilo" and Inclusos y Nunca Despiertas' "La Yuvia no mata las flores," highlighting their connection to nature and minimalistic beauty.

Notable Interaction:
Felix humorously acknowledges Ana's emotional response to the music, stating, “Are you crying twice in one episode? This is a record” (24:54), showcasing the profound impact of the shared songs.

---

4. Exploring "Suave Soul" – Late 60s and Early 70s Latin Influenced Music

[28:02] Felix Contreras:
Felix transitions to his "Suave Soul" playlist, which features late 60s and early 70s tracks infused with Latin rhythms. This era predated the mainstream popularity of bands like Santana, highlighting a rich period of cross-cultural musical experimentation.

Featured Tracks:

• "Suavecito" by Malo (29:29): Known as the Chicano national anthem, this track features subtle Latin influences and was connected to Carlos Santana’s brother, Jorge.

• "Crystal Blue Persuasion" by Tommy James and the Shondells (29:49): Incorporates bongo elements that hint at Latin musical styles.

• "Grazing in the Grass" by Hugh Masakela (30:21): Showcases Afro-Caribbean mambo and cha-cha-chá influences.

• "Viva Tirado" by El Chicano (31:38): A significant track that charted on the jazz charts in 1970, blending Latin rhythms with mainstream music.

• "All Day Music" by War (32:09): Reflects the cross-cultural sounds that were emerging during this vibrant musical period.

[33:19] Ana Maria Sayer:
Ana elaborates on how these artists incorporated Latin percussion and rhythms, emphasizing that the fusion of these elements often preceded full cultural assimilation into mainstream music. She praises the rhythmic foundations that made these tracks resonate universally.

Notable Insight:
Felix concludes by highlighting the brief but impactful moment in music history when diverse cultural influences converged, setting the stage for future cross-cultural collaborations and the eventual rise of globally recognized Latin-influenced artists.

---

5. Conclusion and Acknowledgments

[34:09] Ana Maria Sayer:
Ana succinctly praises the episode, noting the depth and engagement of the discussion.

[34:19] Felix Contreras:
Felix attributes the audio editing to Noah Caldwell and acknowledges Sarah Mohamed as the executive producer of NPR Music.

Final Remarks:
The hosts wrap up the episode by thanking listeners and encouraging them to explore the shared playlists, fostering a deeper appreciation for Alt.Latino music and its cultural significance.

---

Notable Quotes

• "We're survivors. It's just rain. We're survivors." – Attendee at Latin Music Festival (00:38)
• "Joy is our resistance." – Fabi Reyna, Reina Tropical (03:10)
• "Every song is an homage to nature. It's like he got as close to touching perfection as an artist can." – Ana Maria Sayer on Simon Diaz (15:08)

---

Key Takeaways

• Resilience Through Music:
  The episode underscores how music serves as a vessel for resilience and collective strength within the Latino community, especially in challenging socio-political climates.

• Power of Playlists:
  Both hosts emphasize the importance of curated playlists in discovering and preserving diverse musical talents, blending traditional sounds with contemporary influences.

• Cultural Fusion:
  A significant focus is placed on the late 60s and early 70s era of cross-cultural musical experimentation, highlighting how Latin rhythms have profoundly influenced mainstream music genres.

• Emotional Connection:
  The discussion illustrates the profound emotional connections that listeners form with music, serving as both a source of joy and a means of processing complex emotions.

---

Explore More:
Listeners are encouraged to follow Felix Contreras on Spotify to access his vast collection of publicly available playlists, offering a gateway to a rich tapestry of Alt.Latino music.

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This summary captures the essence of the "Alt.Latino: Joy and Resistance, Plus Felix Shares Some of His Favorite Playlists" episode, providing an insightful overview for listeners seeking to explore the vibrant world of Latino music.

Transcript

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[Felix Contreras]

From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And I'm Ana Maria Sayer. Let the chisme begin. Felix, what do you have for me?

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, so this week we're gonna feature music that we're listening to I but that people in the audience don't know.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I already know.

[Felix Contreras]

Felix, I'm not talking to you.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

You're not talking to me.

[Felix Contreras]

I'm talking to the people listening stuff that's on our playlist, some on our Hot 100, whatever. But before we do that, I want to talk a little bit about an experience I had this weekend. The Wolf Trap center for the Performing Arts here in Washington, D.C. for the first time, they held this two day Latin music festival that featured a bunch of the artists that we play. In fact, almost all of them we've played on the show or we've had them at tiny desks. And Saturday, Sunday, the headliner on Saturday was Juanes. Headliner on Sunday was Carlos Vives. And I gotta say that Saturday, the Saturday experience was kind of interrupted by this massive, massive rainstorm. And they were going to have two separate stages and they ended up moving everything at the last minute under the main stage. So all the schedules got all messed up and people had to take shelter from the rain because it's in a national park. And it was the first time that I had been in a crowd of Latinos from various communities since the start of this administration's crackdown in immigration and all this other stuff that's going on. And something I heard as I was walking toward my seat and this woman who had been drenched and another one of her friends says, oh, my God, you guys stuck in the rain. She says, you know what? We're survivors. It's just rain. We're survivors. The whole experience was one of kind of defiance, resistance. On Saturday, Connie Garcia, who we love, and Juanes, from their stage announcements and talking in between songs, they spoke to the moment not in overt political terms, but more in terms of like maintaining our collective positive attitude, collective determination, I don't know what you would call it. So it was extremely emotional, their performances. Connie just laid it out there. She left her whole heart and soul on the stage. And I was struck by something that we talk about on the show where these love songs where they could be About a person. They were all about country. And I was trying to put my finger on what the mood was, what the perspective was. And it was a conversation I had with Fabi Reyna, who was Reina Tropical. She was backstage and I was talking about this and she says, well, you know, our joy is our resistance. I'm like, oh, my God, my head.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Right, We've heard that one a couple times.

[Felix Contreras]

Yeah, but in different places. But in that moment, in that specific place, that's exactly what happened. And it was just, you know, I'm not going to cry today.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

You are crying. Watching you cry.

[Felix Contreras]

But it was like so many people. It was something special. It just fueled me. It's keeping me going.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I have so much to say about that. We've talked a lot, right, about, like, this concept of, especially in Latin American derivative music, this idea of love being this mechanism for everything that you just said, right? Like to explore love, to talk about love, to cry about love, to drink about love, whatever. Like, all of the things that we hear. These most prolific, amazing artists. I was sending, you remember a couple weekends ago when I was like, all I need is Huanga right now. All of this Huanga and the intensity with which he expresses the love and also the heartbreak is it says so much more in a space where we don't necessarily always feel we can explicitly say the thing. I mean, a great example last year was Danny Ocean with Merre Guso. He re releases this song that was originally written about an ex girlfriend that is now very clearly about the rejection and relationship he has to his country. I also was at a show on Saturday night that was also outside, that was also rain time. It was Ella Tober, Planta industrial and Camilo. Camilo is like pop star, pop icon, Colombian. But I can completely and 100% speak exactly to the charged energy of what you're describing. I think there's an intensity with which people want to live right now. That is what I felt is like the intensity with which people were singing every single love song and. And dancing and experiencing the music. I think that to me, I 100% know what you mean. And I think in many ways that's more powerful than a statement on a stage or a statement from people in the crowd. It's really like this statement is to exist. And so I completely. I felt that exact same. You channeled it to me in New York. Exactly. Same thing.

[Felix Contreras]

And it speaks a lot to what we do here and moving the music forward and trying to find those things that give us joy, which is My segue to. Which is my segue to what we're doing today because, you know, we have a lot of fun finding new music and bringing new music, and part of the joy is the hunt. But sometimes we. We just need to fall back on stuff that we already know to keep us going, and that's what we're gonna do today. And you get to go first.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Okay. So this one is really hard. At first, I was like, oh, this is gonna be really hard to figure out. And then I was like, oh, no. What's hard about it is it actually is, like, feels like I'm sharing my secrets. I'm like, oh, this is what I'm listening to. So I. Obviously, Felix, do not have to reiterate my obsession in love with Quita Rica de la Fuente. You hear me talk about him every five seconds. Okay, but.

[Felix Contreras]

But yes, you do.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I have unlocked the greater Guitarica universe, because through him, through Alvaro, I met two of his really big songwriters, collaborators. Their names are Alejandro and Victor Hernandez. They're brothers, and they're also a duo called Maestro Espada. So I heard this song, La Desperida, and I like. I listen to this thing, like, 10 times a day, I swear.

[Felix Contreras]

All right, let's check it out.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Memorial. So these brothers, they're from Murci in southern Spain, and they do kind of like the same stylings of guitarica, right? Like, you hear, like, the analog synths, the really interesting guitar, but they also incorporate some traditional instrumentation from the region. They're somehow both more reduced than Itarica's project, but also kind of more experimental. So I want to play you another song. It's called Tres Gotas del Rocio.

[Felix Contreras]

Oh, my God. I am so there for this. Oh, my God, this is so good.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Okay, but I have to play you one more, because then they get a little bit. I'm just. I'm gonna play it for you. This is called Peretas del Tio Vicent.

[Felix Contreras]

Nice.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Did I win?

[Felix Contreras]

Yes, you won the first round.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

First round.

[Felix Contreras]

Yes.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

What?

[Felix Contreras]

We got a bunch of rounds. We got.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

That was three songs from the band Maestro Espada. They've been writing for a long time in the industry, but they released their debut album just last year called Maestro Espada.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, so you know how I'm obsessed by making playlists, right?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

No, I had no idea. You never talked about your playlist before.

[Felix Contreras]

I counted them the other day. I have over 400 playlists on Spotify.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Yes, 400. So that's why you never get your job done. You're always making playlists.

[Felix Contreras]

That's what I just make them up, man.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

You know, I'm the opposite. I have, like, literally zero playlists. I have one crazy. Just, like, show this big. Of all my liked songs.

[Felix Contreras]

I'm from the generation where we used to make cassettes. Like, playlist cassettes. Right, like, which you still have, by the way. Which I still have. You've seen. You've seen the cassettes. Okay. So I have different themes, different configurations, and so I'm going to play from three different playlists this week. And the first one is just. There are just two artists, and it's because their records were so similar in a lot of different ways, instrumentation wise, thematically, and just because they're these indie artists who. Who just were making incredible music. I made a playlist with music from Lido Pimente's latest album, La Vieza, and then an album from a couple of years ago, Equis Alfonso's Ancestro Sinfonicos. And they both have this amazing orchestral combination within something that's already, like, folkloric. Right.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

This feels like cheating. Felix, you're, like, bringing together some of the best, like, gorgeous. And you're like, this is one song that I'm just. Here you go.

[Felix Contreras]

This. It's fun to listen. Put it on random. And the way they just pop up all the way. So I just put together a couple of songs. We're going to listen to a couple of songs together, and you can hear how thematically they're drawn together. This is a track called Ahora from Lido Pimienta. And then it's going to switch over to a different voice. It's going to be Emmy Alfonso. It's Reso Achango. Check it out.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Cool. I did love this song.

[Felix Contreras]

This is Emmy Alfonso.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Wow. What? I literally thought this was still Lido. Wow. I see what you mean.

[Felix Contreras]

And this is more Emmy Alfonso with the whole orchestra a little bit more busy. So you get the idea, right? They've taken something in, in Lido's case, from Colombia, and Niki Alfonso and his sister Emil Fonso and his family from Cuba. There's something folkloric, and they put it within the. The. The context of a European symphony orchestra and come up with something magical and together. When you mix them together, poof. And you just keep listening and listening well.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And that's what's interesting, right? That constant integration. They both have done that with the European orchestra, even though they themselves are doing something so, like, indigenous to where they're from. It's really interesting. It's a perfect and very specific blend.

[Felix Contreras]

So all my playlists on Spotify are public, so you can look for my name.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

My name is just you plugging your playlist.

[Felix Contreras]

Yeah. For people to listen. No, but if this one's called La Belleza de los Ancestrals. Lido Pimienta and her album La Belleza, and Equis Alfonso and his album Ancestros Sinfonicos. Okay, what do you have?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Simon Diaz is one of the most celebrated preservers and disseminators of folkloric culture from Venezuela. So obviously, oftentimes I return to Simon Diaz. So I'm gonna play a little bit of his beautiful, famous song, Tonada Luna Yen.

[Felix Contreras]

Oh, my God. The beauty of simplicity, man.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

My love for Simon Diaz was revived not that long ago specifically because of something Silvana Estrada said to me. She obviously is super influenced by him. I think you can hear that in her music. And she said to me, she was like, nature like, ya ik siste Perfection, like perfection, exists on this earth, and it is the natural world. And as an artist, all you do is spend all of your life and your time and your energy trying to achieve what nature has already done, trying to replicate it. And obviously, Simone Diaz, his mandate, his mission, his artistic practice was to revive and recover the folkloric sounds that came from the plains in Venezuela. And that's everything he does, that song, every song is an homage to nature. So it's like he got, I feel like, as close to touching the perfection as an artist kind of can.

[Felix Contreras]

Wow.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And so I have occasionally have moments with my playlisting situation that I don't make playlists, but I blend. And I. Earlier this year, I was driving through the mountains in Puerto Rico with some friends. We were driving to a river. It was like, one of the most beautiful days of my whole entire life. And we're driving through in silence playing Silvana Simon. Silvana Simon. And that I go. That's why I have to go back to that all the time. So I play Simon when I'm walking around, when I need tranquilita.

[Felix Contreras]

That's a beautiful story. First of all, I find it hard to believe that you were in any period of time anywhere where you weren't talking. Okay. Especially with friends.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I'm just kind of, to be honest.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay. I've been in the car with you a number of times.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I know, I know.

[Felix Contreras]

All over the place. Okay. We were in Spain. We drove for hours. I just find it hard. I'm just for the record, that's how spiritual it was.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

That's what I'm saying.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, well, that makes the song more powerful.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Exactly. That was Tonada Luna Yena by Simon Diaz.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, so now we got to take a break and let's see if you can not talk during a break.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Okay? I'm allowed to talk during the break.

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[Felix Contreras]

Okay, and we're back with more I didn't talk.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

No, I did.

[Felix Contreras]

No, you did not talk. Very good. So I have a series of playlists that I call Walking with and then a colon and it has different themes so that I can listen to this music while I do my walks. Right? I have Walking With Six String Jazz, Walking with Carlos. I have some Carlos Santana stuff. Walking With Country Tinged. It's like, you know, country, Latino country stuff that we do Walking With Vocalistas at Jazz. And these are all these amazing female jazz vocalists that I bring in from Latin America, from Chile and everywhere. I have one called Walking With Spain. Vox Feminina. Vox means voice. Right? So all of these artists.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

It's so clinical. Felix you're in your playlist name.

[Felix Contreras]

I have all of these artists that Aretha Fayes, Silvia Perez Cruz, Maria Jose Yergo. But I started it with Martirio, this Spanish vocalist who sort of, for me, kicked off all this stuff even before any of these other artists were. As they were coming of age, I suppose. Rosalia talked about the whole idea of Martirio.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And that's member I brought her up to Rosalia. That was actually. That was a sneaky hack, Felix. Hack. Because you suggested when I interviewed her that I bring that up. And I did. And she, like, lost it. She was like, oh, Martino is a legend. She's the original. Whatever.

[Felix Contreras]

So this is what. This is part of the. And I have more vocalists. I just brought in a handful. A little mix of things we're going to hear. First, Martirio with a song called Este Tarde de Gris. It was recorded in 1999. All the others are fairly recent, but I'll try to point out who's who as we go along. But this first up is Martirio. Check her out. Sa.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

My girl Sylvia, obviously.

[Felix Contreras]

Sylvia Perez Cruz. So this is the playlist. Walking With Spain, Vox Feminina. That was Martirio and Estetari Degrees, Rita Paez and Silvio Perez on the same song. El Panadero. Maria Jose Yergo with Aprendiendo de Volar and Amaya Miranda with Cancion para Amar.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Okay, not that far off. I'm just gonna play it for you first because something that actually I'm not, apparently. I want to talk about it. Something that we keep bringing up, right, Is the power of the simplicity of just like a beautiful voice, a beautiful lyrics, and just a sparse but gorgeous instrument, whatever it is surrounding that. So this is a song called Vilo from a Chilean singer called Ataquemos.

[Felix Contreras]

What are you doing to me, man? Again?

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Are you crying twice in one episode? Felix, this is a record.

[Felix Contreras]

I'm just saying that you're bringing it. You're like introducing me to. Now I have to build a whole playlist around.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Oh, that's when I know that I really.

[Felix Contreras]

Oh, my gosh.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

It's the chorus too. It's Eres el sol quiero luz punto like you are the sun, I want light. That's it. It's like. It's. But it's that simple, right? It kind of reminds me. I mean, it reminds me of a lot of what we're bringing, but it also is. There's a level of Simon Diaz ness to this. And I think that's what's interesting about this. It's from Chile, and it reminds me a little bit of, like, the sneaky sonic diversity of what is, like, they have a super roquero sing, they have banda that they make in Las Montanas. And I think there's something to it, the geography of Chile, right, that makes for such unique distribution of sound. So he's from the north of Chile of a place called La Sirena, which is this coastal town. It's very simple, but it's very picturesque. And it's, to me, like, if you look at pictures of this place, it's the simplicity that is actually the beauty. It's just like, very much. It feels like his music. And I was talking to a friend about this sound, and she was like, oh, he is like the literal principio of this cutest scene of Chilean music that exists. So I started kind of, like, going on a little bit of a rabbit hole. And I found this other band. They all have the funniest, lowercase, whatever poetic names. The band is called Inclusos y nunca despiertas, including if you never wake up. And the song is called La Yuvia no mata las flores. I have, like, 5,000 of these feelings, I swear. Her bio, right? Her bio on Spotify. It rains, you hug me and the trees grow.

[Felix Contreras]

That's all it says.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Which now, as I say all this out loud, I'm like, of course you like this. This is some, like, hippie Grateful Dead. Pero de verad. The naturaleza component.

[Felix Contreras]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Again, it's the same thing, right? There's like, this. Almost a lot of them are from kind of these more rural places. And there's like, this pastoral element. It's the connection to nature. It's the easiest. A simple connection, and a simple invocation of nature is, like, the easiest way to make something beautiful. That was Vilo by Atakemos and La llia no mata las Flores by Inclusos y nunca de s Fiertas.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, so we're gonna finish the show this week with my playlist. Completely different vein. We're gonna switch gears. It's a little bit of yes, we do. It's a little bit of whiplash. I have a playlist called Suave Soul. And it reflects this period of time, like, late 60s, early 70s, where there were a lot of songs. And it wasn't just Santana, it wasn't all these other bands. There was a lot of different bands with a Latin tinge, Latin feel to them, right? And that, like, people like Laura Nero who like nothing to do with Latin music at all. But a lot of these songs had a little bit of a Latin feel. So I'm going to play some songs from, like, the late 60s, early 70s that had a different feel to it, but it influenced a lot of the music that came afterwards. It influenced Santana. It influenced the bands that came after Santana. I'm going to start with the Chicano, what some call the Chicano national anthem, Suavecito by Malo. We're going to start with that. That was actually Carlos Santana's brother Jorge was in that band. This is from the first album, Malo. And then listen to the grooves afterwards and I'll shout out who's playing. All right. This is Suavecito from Malo from 1970. Love.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I've never met a girl like you in my life I never, no, no yeah I never felt like you in.

[Felix Contreras]

My life Crystal Blue Persuasion this is Tommy James and the Shondells, 1969. Crystal Blue persuasion. There's a little bongo part to watch.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

I'm imagining you, Felix.

[Felix Contreras]

Maybe tomorrow.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

When he looks down.

[Felix Contreras]

On.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Every green field in every town.

[Felix Contreras]

This is South African trumpeter Hugh Masakela Grazing in the grass from 1968.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

Are these your special edition cowbell Steelers?

[Felix Contreras]

Yeah. Sam. This is All Day Music from war from 1971. Another Chicano classic. Yeah. This is the band from Southern California, El Chicano. This is from their first album, the title track of the first album called Viva Tirado. This actually charted on the jazz charts that year, 1970.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

God, it's everything you love in one neat little package, Felix.

[Felix Contreras]

So, yeah, there was. It captured a moment. It's like this mostly Afro Caribbean mambo, Cha cha cha Boletto, that was interpreted by other bands that were outside of the Latin music or Latin culture. And it had an impact. It had impact on the music industry. But for me, it's like this small little bubble of sounds and influences. And if you hear the playlist, there are a lot of other bands that did the same thing.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

It's like the incorporations of our rhythms and our beats, like the percussion that comes out of Latin America. The kind of, like, these elements that you're describing, that's always what comes first to me. Like, well before the fullness of the music makes its way over here, it's like, let's pull some rhythms first. And that's what always hits people. Yeah.

[Felix Contreras]

And what's crucial to me is, like, the year, especially with, like, Grazing in the Grass or Crystal Blue Persuasion, you know, that was before Santana. Right. So 69 Crystal Blue, Persuasion 69, Santana's first album came out in 69. So there was already a lot of stuff going on. And those bands El Chicano, 1970, War 71, the they were building on stuff that was already out there. And then they created this thing that's phenomenally popular now. But for a brief moment in time in the late 60s, there was really a lot of interesting stuff going on, cross cultural stuff that I don't think gets enough recognition for how cross cultural it was. So there, that's the end of my lecture.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

It's a good lecture. I liked that one today. It's not always, but today's was good.

[Felix Contreras]

You have been listening to the lecture series called Alt Latino from NPR Music.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

That honestly is a more accurate descriptor.

[Felix Contreras]

Our audio editor is Noah Caldwell.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

The executive producer of NPR Music is Sarah Mohamed.

[Felix Contreras]

I'm Felix Contreras.

[Ana Maria Sayer]

And I'm Ana Maria Sayer.

[Felix Contreras]

Thanks for listening. Foreign.

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