Alt.Latino: Portraits of Jazz and Identity in Latin America

Summary

All Songs Considered: Alt.Latino – Portraits of Jazz and Identity in Latin America

Air date: November 5, 2025
Host: Felix Contreras (for Alt.Latino, NPR)

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Episode Overview

This episode offers a deep dive into the stories and music of six Latin American jazz musicians who blend jazz with their regional folk traditions. Host Felix Contreras guides listeners through personal journeys and creative processes of artists from Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. The episode explores the concept of "musical biculturalism"—where Latin folk and American jazz naturally intertwine—and how these musicians assert their place within the broader, often US-centered, jazz narrative.

“Jazz has been called America’s gift to the world. But this week, we’ll meet South American jazz musicians… where Ella Fitzgerald rubs elbows with Mercedes Sosa and Argentine chacarera coexists with swing.”
— Felix Contreras [00:25]

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Key Discussion Points & Artist Segments

1. Claudia Acuna – Chile: Jazz as Multilingual Expression

[01:34 – 05:30]

• Origins in Folk, Draw to Jazz:
  Acuna describes her early immersion in Chilean folk before discovering the liberating, improvisational spirit of jazz.
  • “I fell in love with jazz because… you improvise and musicians are in full service of the music and it becomes a really on real time talk.”
    — Claudia Acuna [01:53]
• Inspiration from Dizzy Gillespie:
  Dizzy’s love of Afro-Cuban music inspired Acuna to dream of singing jazz in Spanish—making it her mission to unite the genres.
  • “If Dizzy Gillespie is in love with this music, one day I’m going to sing jazz in Spanish.”
    — Claudia Acuna [02:35]
• Musical Fusion:
  Acuna discusses blending Duke Ellington’s "Prelude to a Kiss" with the Chilean cueca and embracing her role as an innovator for future generations.
  • “Maybe this is our role… to continue open and creating spaces for another generation that comes after us.”
    — Claudia Acuna [04:24]

2. Sophia Ray – Argentina: Jazz as Connective Tissue

[05:30 – 10:05]

• Layering Folk and Jazz:
  Ray celebrates the experimental, boundary-crossing nature of both jazz and South American folk, pointing to artists like Violeta Parra.
  • “Jazz was never confined to this one single sound or tradition… in this open space, I think, is where some of us live.”
    — Sophia Ray [06:40]
• Language and Belonging:
  Ray reflects on how performing in Spanish, Portuguese, and English creates both opportunities and obstacles in traditional jazz scenes.
  • “Sometimes it feels like even though Latinos were there from the very beginning, it feels. Feels that we’re still somewhat foreign to the art form.”
    — Sophia Ray [08:59]
• Gato Barbieri as a Precursor:
  Contreras marks Argentine saxophonist Gato Barbieri as an early trailblazer in fusing South American folk with jazz, a sentiment Ray echoes.
  • “He really opened the door for all of that so early on… we do have something to say. We’re also part of this.”
    — Sophia Ray [10:05]

3. Roxana Amer – Argentina: Jazz Technique, Folk Roots

[11:07 – 13:19]

• Finding the Latin Voice in Jazz:
  Amer illustrates, through vocal demonstration, how articulation and rhythm reflect African heritage and Argentine style within jazz.
  • “Some things in the timbre start showing the roots of the style, the African roots of the style, then the swing, then the way you articulate the consonants.”
    — Roxana Amer [11:49]
• Personal Connections to Argentine Rock:
  Amer details the powerful resonance of rock in Argentina’s political and cultural identity and her mission to jazzify Argentine rock classics with pianist Leo Genovese.
  • “Rock was the language of my generation… before I die, I need to make finally this album with rock, Argentine rock.”
    — Roxana Amer [13:19]

4. Magos Herrera – Mexico: Home Abroad

[17:51 – 19:48]

• Evolving Beyond Standards:
  Herrera chronicles how her move to New York intensified her Latin American identity, compelling her to merge Mexican folk and jazz on her own terms.
  • “It was quite early on when I understood that I wasn’t a traditional jazz singer… I didn’t feel that my heart was in singing jazz standards exclusively in English.”
    — Magos Herrera [17:51]
• Who is the Audience?:
  Reflects on cultural translation and the landlessness of immigrant artists: who are you singing for, and how is the music received in the US vs. Latin America?
  • “Who am I talking to? An American person would be sensitive and open enough to understand a piece like Gracias a la Vida in the same way than someone in Mexico City or Buenos Aires or Madrid?”
    — Magos Herrera [19:48]

5. Camila Mesa – Chile: Inherited Diversity

[21:28 – 24:41]

• Cultural Layering:
  Mesa marvels at the multi-layered heritage found in Latin American music, from African polyrhythms to indigenous and European influences, describing it as “fluid” and hard to categorize.
  • “Music from Latin America… it’s really like this heritage of so many cultures coming together… I realize I’m playing this particular rhythm from… West Africa even…”
    — Camila Mesa [22:13]
• The “Chilean Coincidence”:
  Mesa emphasizes the uncoached, organic growth of the jazz scene in Chile, noting the intensity and knowledge of local musicians.
  • “You go to the clubs… you’re listening as if you go inside a New York club… they become very nerdy about it, so they know all the records.”
    — Camila Mesa [23:55]

6. Melissa Aldana – Chile: Jazz as Family Inheritance

[25:46 – 28:44]

• A Legacy of Jazz:
  Aldana describes growing up immersed in jazz, mentored by her father and grandfather, both jazz saxophonists in Chile, giving her a unique starting point far from North American epicenters.
  • “My grandfather was one of the first jazz musicians during the 40s and 50s… my dad, he made me love music and the process of practicing. Charlie Parker is the only person that you need to be checking out right now.”
    — Melissa Aldana [26:45]
• Ownership of Identity:
  Aldana’s outlook is rooted in both tradition and innovation—she asserts that embodying her Chilean womanhood in jazz is, in itself, an authentic contribution.
  • “It all to me has to do with like, yeah, I’m Chilean, and I have a Chilean identity in the way that I play… it doesn’t mean that I have to play cueca, but the way that telling my story is as a South American woman.”
    — Melissa Aldana [28:14]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Claudia Acuna on Trailblazing:
  “We are the ones that are going to continue open and creating spaces for another generation that comes after us.” [04:24]
• Sophia Ray on Jazz’s Universality:
  “Jazz was never confined to this one single sound or tradition… in this open space, I think, is where some of us live.” [06:40]
• Roxana Amer on Articulation and Swing:
  “It’s not only about the values… but the articulation. Those accents and notes that are more muted, those are the ones that are matching the swing.” [12:19]
• Magos Herrera on Performing for Diverse Audiences:
  “Who am I talking to?… We all grew up with these songs. But you will be surprised that also in the United States, even non-Spanish speaking people, they are incredibly sensitive to these narratives.” [19:48]
• Melissa Aldana on Authentic Storytelling:
  “Jazz was always about being able to tell your story. And that is the one thing that I love the most about it.” [28:14]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Claudia Acuna (Chile): 01:34 – 05:30
• Sophia Ray (Argentina): 05:30 – 10:05
• Discussion on Gato Barbieri: 09:11 – 10:05
• Roxana Amer (Argentina): 11:07 – 13:19
• Magos Herrera (Mexico): 17:51 – 19:48
• Camila Mesa (Chile): 21:28 – 24:41
• Melissa Aldana (Chile): 25:46 – 28:44

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Takeaways

• Jazz as Identity: Each artist negotiates the space between tradition and personal voice, often infusing jazz with their homeland’s folk rhythms, language, and emotion.
• Cultural Dialogue: The episode highlights the two-way influence between the Americas and how Latin American approaches make jazz more global, inclusive, and dynamic.
• Legacy and Innovation: Mentorship, family traditions, and a sense of musical mission shape these jazz musicians, ensuring a vibrant future for jazz in Latin America.

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For further listening and links to the featured music, visit:
NPR’s Alt.Latino archive

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Transcript

[Announcer]

This message comes from Sony Pictures Classics. With Nuremberg, the Allies seek justice for the Holocaust. The chief prosecutor leads the trial of the century, while a US army psychiatrist battles Hermann Goering's mind. Nuremberg starts Friday only in theaters.

[Felix Contreras]

From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. We're finally giving Ana Maria Serra some days off. So this week we're going to change things up a bit. We're going to take a deep dive into something I've been curious about and I have talked about on past episodes. Musicians from Latin America who play jazz. Now, jazz has been called America's gift to the world. And this week we'll meet some South American jazz musicians, vocalists and instrumentalists who occupy a unique space where Ella Fitzgerald rubs elbows with Mercedes Sosa and where Argentine chacarera coexist with swing. We're going to hear from six different musicians who are each making amazing music and each tell us something different about the state of jazz today. Now we'll hear some common themes, stories about how they came to jazz, their passion for the rich folk traditions of Latin America, and the inspiration they find from reflecting their own cultures and traditions in into their own unique expression. Let's get into it.

[Claudia Acuna]

Hello, my name is Claudia Cunha. I am a singer, storyteller, songwriter, composer, bandleader, a woman from the south of the America who, who was born in Chile.

[Felix Contreras]

I asked Claudia Acuna how she got started on her journey as a vocalist and her love for jazz.

[Claudia Acuna]

When you ask me that question, you take me far, long time ago. Like when I was maybe 14 years old, I knew always I wanted to sing and I started with folk music and then I put my hands everywhere I could, you know. But I fell in love with jazz because the part where you improvise and musicians are in full service of the music and it becomes a really on real time talk.

[Felix Contreras]

In fact, it was jazz pioneer Dizzy Gillespie's love of Afro Cuban music, going all the way back to the 1940s, that inspired Claudia to find her own place in jazz.

[Claudia Acuna]

If Dizzy Gillespie is in love with this music, one day I'm going to sing jazz in Spanish. And I'm in my little mind, you know, in heart as a dreamer. I'm thinking to myself, this is what I really want to do. And this music will be the only style that could potentially allow me to.

[Felix Contreras]

Do that, you know. After almost 30 years on her jazz journey, Claudia Acuna is really one of the pioneers in bringing these two continents together musically.

[Claudia Acuna]

I felt it, I heard it in my head. I Dreamed it. And I could hear all those arrangements that we did for my first album where I'm taking, like, Prelude to a Kid, but I'm using a cueca in.

[Felix Contreras]

It, you know, Cueca is a style of Chilean music and dance. And here's that track she mentioned, an old Duke Ellington classic called Prelude to a Kiss, which she recorded on her album Wind from the south in 2000.

[Singer (performing vocals)]

If you hear a song in blue Like a flower crying for the dew that was my My heart serenading you My prelude to a kiss if you hear a song that grows from my tender sentimental woes that was my heart trying to compose My prelude to a kiss Though it's just a simple melody with nothing fancy, nothing much, you could turn it to a symphony A Shoeburn tune with a Gershwin touch oh, how my love some gently cries for the tenderness within your eyes as you said.

[Claudia Acuna]

And I'm gonna use your word, pioneers, people that I think we deserve a chance to have a sit at the table, you know, but at the same time, maybe this is our role in this section of this chapter of this story is we are the ones that are going to continue open and creating spaces for another generation that comes after us. You know, I just can't help myself to not be who I am. And I have done this for a long time. And now at this age, at this time, I feel like I just need to get more comfortable on that and just put the foot on the en el Harador.

[Sophia Ray]

Hi, I'm Sophia Ray. I am a vocalist, composer, producer, educator from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[Felix Contreras]

Like our other guest this week, Sophia Ray exists in a world that I call musically bicultural. And what we're hearing right now is her rendition of a song called El Gavilan, which was originally written by Chilean folk singer Violeta Parra.

[Sophia Ray]

My music has been always very related to South American folk. How beautiful to be able to see the world of Yoleta Parramatta, see the world of all these wonderful South American folk artists through the lens of this music.

[Felix Contreras]

For Sophia Ray, jazz is not a standalone genre from North America. It's more like a connective tissue that can bring together north and South American traditions.

[Sophia Ray]

I feel that jazz was never confined to this one single sound or tradition. Sometimes we try to identify that whole world with one thing. I don't think that a lot of people think of somebody like Violeta Parra as an experimental artist. Right, right. For me, she is maybe some of her most known work, not so much. But if I think of something like El Gavilan or Pieces where she was really listening to so many other folks out there. Contemporary classical music. I think there are those artists like Cucile y Samon in Argentina or Carlos Aguirre. I don't know. I can think of so many people that kind of like, we're always navigating a more open space. And in this open space, I think, is where some of us live, where we can find the beauty of this folk music that's so connected to the soul and that has a strong relation to perhaps a specific geographical space. Like, we think of Chacarera. Well, okay, we're thinking of Argentina. We're thinking of a very specific geographical point. Or thinking of Yoleta Parra. It brings us to Chile or to Cueca or to. But I think Jess has this more universal spirit that can make it easier for us to connect all these different dots and make it easier for us to navigate throughout. I think that there are still some outdated ideas of what kind of music we should make as jazz artists. Where sometimes electronic music maybe doesn't have a place. Or singing in other languages, like my case, I sing in Spanish, mainly also in Portuguese, sometimes. Sometimes in English, but maybe sometimes feels like, oh, this is still. Sometimes it feels like even though Latinos were there from the very beginning, it feels. Feels that we're still somewhat foreign to the art form.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay. At this point, I have to point out an artist who is a precursor to this current movement of musicians from South America playing jazz. In the early 1970s, the Argentine saxophonist Gato Barbieri was way ahead of the curb when he made a series of albums that matched up South American folk instruments and rhythms with his signature robust sound on the tenor saxophone. He remained creative right up to the time of his passing in 2016, but I don't think he really got enough credit for those records back then, largely because I think the jazz audience didn't understand them. And now, more than 50 years after he made them, those albums also predicted a desire by musicians from South America to be recognized as part of the sound of jazz. Fellow Argentine musician Sophia Ray Sam says he was both groundbreaking and prophetic.

[Sophia Ray]

You listen to these records and you're like, oh, my God, there is a wino there. There is Indian music that was not really part of jazz at all until he, you know, like, kind of incorporated that or also other folk styles of music from Argentina. I think he really opened the door for all of that so early on. And it's interesting because still to today, I think we're still like, kind of like, hey, here we Are. We do have something to say. We're also part of this.

[Felix Contreras]

Next up, we're going to talk to another musician from Argentina.

[Roxana Amer]

I am Roxana Amer. I'm from Buenos Aires. I am a vocalist first. Depending on how good I do, I might call myself a composer.

[Felix Contreras]

Okay, now we're going to dig into the DNA of what makes jazz expressions from South America just slightly different than North American jazz. Roxanna Ahmed is going to explain.

[Roxana Amer]

If I do something like my heart is sad and lonely, there is nothing jazzy there but the song maybe my.

[Singer (performing vocals)]

Heart is sad and lonely.

[Roxana Amer]

Some things in the timber, start showing the roots of the style, the African roots of the style, then the swing, then the way you articulate the consonants. All that is something I built. It's not only about the values. You know, the rhythm in the values, but the articulation. So if I have to do and.

[Claudia Acuna]

I do.

[Roxana Amer]

That articulation, those accents and notes that are more muted, those are the ones that are matching the swing.

[Felix Contreras]

Earlier this year, she focused her jazz chops on another Argentine folk tradition, rock. This is Corazon de la Tor, written by Gustavo Serrati when he was a member of the band Soda Esterio. It's from the album Todos los Fuegos by Roxanne Amen.

[Roxana Amer]

We Argentinians, we are far from everywhere, right? We are, like, lost in our own crisis with our own traumatized political life. So music is very ours. It's very important because it really reflects who we are. Rock was the language of my generation. I had this epiphany last year. I said, like, before I die, I need to make finally this album with rock, Argentine rock. I had to do it. So I called in September. I called Leo Genovese, our Argentinian, amazing pianist and everything. And I said, leo, before I die, I really want to record this. And I think you'd be the right person because I wouldn't have to explain to you many things, right? You will know the drama, you will know the darkness, you will know the poetry. You will know everything. And he says, let's do it.

[Felix Contreras]

So far, we've been hearing about the connective tissue between jazz from north and South America, and also the ways that those two traditions differ. We're going to take a quick break, and when we come back, three more musicians who use their voice and instruments to tell their own jazz story.

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[Felix Contreras]

Support for NPR and the following message come from Warby Parker, the One Stop Shop for all your vision needs. They offer expertly crafted prescription eyewear plus contacts, eye exams and more for everything you need to see. Visit your nearest Warby Parker store or head to warbyparker.com and we're back. And we've got conversations with three more prolific jazz musicians from Latin America. And the first is Magos Herrera, a Mexican singer who, like many artists, moved to New York earlier in her career. So she sees the influence of Latin America on jazz from the other side of the push and pull between the US and the rest of the hemisphere.

[Magos Herrera]

Well, I've been singing for three decades, and as old jazz musicians, I started singing, you know, like the traditional jazz repertoire and, you know, like trying to incorporate the language and the vocabulary. But it was quite early on when I understood that I wasn't a traditional jazz singer in the sense that I didn't feel that my heart was in singing jazz standards exclusively in English. And, and I guess when I moved to New York 18 years ago, it was even this call was even stronger, I guess with the distance from Mexico and my Latin American blood and my roots just sounded natural and organic for me.

[Felix Contreras]

For you, is there a place when you're performing, when you're composing, where the folk music of Mexico and Latin America and jazz, are they on equal footing? Do they coexist together or is it you that brings them together for your own particular expression?

[Magos Herrera]

I mean, in my case, I think it's me putting things together because again, I don't think in terms of definitions or genres like, okay, this influences from Latin American folk song, or I just get, I think after so many years, there is a way, a natural way for me to. The way I phrase, the way I write, write the progressions that I use, the kind of interplay I search with the musicians. So I think it's more like bringing all these things together and putting them through a very specific way of how I envision music.

[Singer (performing vocals)]

Gracias do.

[Magos Herrera]

Listen. I think in my case, I'm very lucky that I have been able to develop a career in the United States where I find resonance in the audience. And it could be a mixed audience, it could be like Latin American audiences, but also American audiences. And I've been lucky enough to say this, but many times I ask myself, who am I talking to? An American person would be sensitive and open enough to understand a piece like Gracias a la Vida in the same way than someone in Mexico City or Buenos Aires or Madrid. I mean, obviously, obviously it's a different. I mean, our references are different. We all grew up with these songs. But you will be surprised that also in the United States, even non Spanish speaking people, they are incredibly sensitive to these narratives. But I think it's a challenge, it's a constant challenge to understand who are we talking to, who is listening and who we're talking to. But at the same time, we just need to do it because that's what we do.

[Felix Contreras]

That was Mago Serera putting a jazz spin on the Latin American classic Gracias a la Vida.

[Camila Mesa]

Hi, everybody. I'm Camila Mesa. I'm a singer, guitarist, composer from Chili.

[Felix Contreras]

You know, I've discovered over the years of covering Latin music that it is in Latin America, South America and the Caribbean, where the mix of cultures and traditions is much stronger and ever present in the music than it is here in North America. Camila Mesa says that historical mashup is one of the sources of her creative voice.

[Camila Mesa]

Music from Latin America and the guitar in Latin America is just so broad. And the polyrhythmic beauty of Latin American music, it's really like this, this heritage of so many cultures coming together in a specific geographic place. You know, like sometimes I'm like, I'm writing and I'm like, oh, I can't even explain where this is coming from. But then I, like, I realize it's, oh, I'm, like, playing this particular rhythm from, like, West Africa even, you know, that kind of, like, it's definitely in Latin American music, you know, so it's very fluid, and it's beautiful to. To realize how music is.

[Melissa Aldana]

So.

[Camila Mesa]

It's so liquid, you know, it's so hard to. To say, this is. This stops here and this, you know, because it just keeps.

[Roxana Amer]

Trav.

[Felix Contreras]

This week, we're featuring three musicians from Chile, each from a different generation of jazz musicians who are commanding attention here in North America. Camila Mesa. Claudia Acuna, and coming up in a minute, Melissa Aldan. So what's in the water in Chile? What makes it turn out so many talented jazz musicians?

[Camila Mesa]

Honestly, I feel like it's such a beautiful coincidence because, like, the three of us come from very different backgrounds in a way, you know, like, thinking of. Because sometimes it's easy to say, oh, yeah, there's a school there that, like, there's a school there. And it's like, there's one incredible teacher that it's like making all these people, like, fall in love deeply with the music and. But no, like, in Chile, there's incredible musicians, like, everywhere. And specifically the jazz scene, it's such a high level. You know, you go to the clubs and you. You really like, you're listening to. As if you go inside a New York club, you know, like, they're super studios. I think that's one other thing. You know, they become very nerdy about it, so they know all the records.

[Singer (performing vocals)]

And, you know, Okina. Oh, that was Camila Mesa and her track Utopia.

[Felix Contreras]

Our final conversation is with another musician who came out of that beautiful coincidence of jazz in Chile, Melissa Aldana. She's a tenor saxophonist whose life and family background would be very, very typical of a modern jazz musician. She is the third generation of her family to answer the call to play jazz after her father and her father's father. She knew who Charlie Parker was when she was just 4 years old, and she worships both John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, two towering figures in jazz history. Except all of this took place over 5,000 miles from the jazz capital of the world, New York City. Melissa Aldana is from Santiago.

[Melissa Aldana]

I grew up listening to my grandfather and my father listening to jazz all the time, you know, so that was the only music that was being played at home. So in a way, I was very lucky to, you know, to have somebody like my dad telling me, like, the source is Charlie Parker. That's all what you need to learn. My grandfather was one of the first jazz musicians during the, you know, 40s and 50s, I think, in Chile. And back then he had an orchestra that was very famous during that time that it was called. So my grandfather was, of course, obsessed with big band arrangements. He was a baritone player. He loved train. He played 10 or two. And also he was doing a lot of touring around Europe back then, taking a boat. So they will travel for months and months. And actually one of the first saxophones I played was a saxophone that he bought on one of those tours. And my dad, he made me love music and single saxophone and the process of practicing. So I was very lucky to have somebody who's like, no, Shly Parker is the only person that you need to be checking out right now and practice with me, like hours, hours and hours.

[Felix Contreras]

All day as she moves forward in her jazz journey. Melissa Aldana, like our other guests this week, is finding a way to bring together north and South America and her music in a way that is organic to the traditions of all the Americas.

[Melissa Aldana]

It all to me has to do with like, yeah, I'm Chilean, and I have a Chilean identity in the way that I play, because that's where I'm from and those are my experiences. It doesn't mean that I have to play cueca, but the way that telling my story is as a South American woman, and I think that just was always about being able to tell your story. And that is the one thing that I love the most about it.

[Singer (performing vocals)]

Sam.

[Felix Contreras]

That is the track A Purpose from Melissa Aldana's latest album, Echoes of the Inner Prophet. My thanks to Melissa Eldana, Camila Mesa Mago Serrera, Roxana Ahmed, Sophia Ray and Claudia Acuna. Thank you for your time and your music. You can find out about the music we played this week on our [e-mail] altlatino and go out and discover for yourself the magic of jazz in Latin America. You have been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Our audio editor is Noah Caldwell. Soraya Muhammad is executive producer of NPR Music. Sonali Mehta is executive director of NPR Music. Ana Maria Serra will be back next week. I'm Felix Contreras. Thank you for listening.

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