WXPN Debuts Latin Roots Series on World Cafe®

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Created on Thursday, 12 January 2012 14:03

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. ¡Prepare to get your hips shaking! WXPN (http://www.xpn.org), the nationally-recognized leader in Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) music and noncommercial radio service of the University of Pennsylvania, is adding some rítmo to its programming. Today, a new biweekly series entitled “Latin Roots” will debut on its flagship program World Cafe®. Latin Roots is made possible by the Wyncote Foundation and explores the vast variety of music from Spanish-speaking countries and people. From the standards like cumbia, mambo and son to Latin rock and even reggaeton, we’ll hear it all. The series will air every other Thursday during the second hour of World Cafe®. Latin Roots programming will also be available at http://wx.pn/Q.

On Latin Roots, World Cafe® host David Dye will delve into the musical styles and genres of Spanish influence with a rotating series of guests. With each segment, Dye and his guest will explore two related songs, current and old, and discuss their unique characteristics, how they relate and where they fit into the spectrum of Latin music. The first installment will feature Grammy-winning producer, musician, composer and Latin music expert Aaron Levinson who will share two Salsa tracks.

Latin Roots will feature other expert guests including Felix Contreras, a reporter and producer for NPR's Arts Desk and the co-host of Alt.Latino, NPR's new web-based program about Latin alternative music. Tom Moon will also serve as a guest contributor. Moon is a Music Reviewer for NPR and has been writing about pop, rock, jazz, blues, hip-hop and music across the globe for more than 25 years.

“English speakers tend to lump all Latin music together in a hand-waving way and call it all Salsa,” said Dye. “The goal of Latin Roots is to tease-out all the different styles and rhythms from around the globe and give us all an easy and up-to-date guide. It’s hard not to get overwhelmed by the variety. I’m excited to delve into this subject and bring new flavors to the show with every edition. I hope my listeners are ready to move their feet to some new rhythms!”

Latin music lovers can visit http://wx.pn/Q to be directed to the Latin Roots webpage for suggested artists, tracks, albums, compilations and more. The Latin Roots webpage will also link to Spotify playlists that will accompany each segment. As a follow up to today’s segment, Aaron Levison has created a Salsa playlist, a free Spotify account is required to listen. The website also features past World Cafe® interviews with Latin artists including Ximena Sariana, Ana Tijoux, Puerto Plata and Juana Molina.

For more information about World Cafe®, please visit XPN.org/worldcafe.

ABOUT WXPN

WXPN, the nationally recognized leader in Triple A radio and the premier guide for discovering new and significant artists in rock, blues, roots and folk, is the non-commercial, member-supported radio service of the University of Pennsylvania. WXPN produces World Cafe®, public radio’s most popular program of popular music hosted by David Dye and syndicated by NPR, and the Peabody Award winning Kids Corner hosted by Kathy O’Connell. WXPN also produces the alternative rock service, XPN2 as its secondary radio channel in HD. WXPN serves the greater Philadelphia area at 88.5 FM, the Lehigh Valley at 104.9, Worton/Baltimore at 90.5 FM, Lancaster/York at 88.7 FM, Harrisburg at 99.7 FM and the world via online streaming at XPN.org.