NPR's Alt.Latino on World Cafe
World Cafe
Alt.Latino shares 4 Latinx artists you should have on your radar
To help us kick off Hispanic Heritage Month, World Cafe sits down with Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre, the incredible hosts over at NPR’s Alt.Latino, to help us showcase some of the best new Latinx music out right now.
Anamaria’s first pick will be featured on Alt.Latino’s Tiny Desk takeover, called ‘El Tiny.’ Dominican rapper J Noa will be taking the Tiny Desk stage later this month, and Anamaria brings us a preview with “Una Carta,” off her debut album, Autodidacta.
“Her performance at the Tiny Desk was actually her first time, not only ever performing outside of the Dominican Republic, but performing outside her barrio in the Dominican Republic,” Anamaria says. “She came. She absolutely killed it. She’s only 17 years old.”
To our pleasant surprise, Felix brought, not one, but two Cuban jazz pianists to the showcase.
Felix says Alfredo Rodríguez completely transforms Beethoven’s “Für Elise” on his new album, Coral Way.
“I chose this track because it goes through a couple of different style changes,” Felix says. “It starts with a Cuban danzón — that’s the most European influence of all Cuban music styles. Then, it slides into a very funky cha-cha-cha. But, in between, there’s a very combustible timba, a dance style you’ll hear in the clubs.”
Anamaria’s second pick is indie pop artist YADAM, who released his debut album, BELAMOR, last week.
“He’s part of this group of young artists who came out of this Venezuelan diaspora. Born in Venezuela, moved to the U.S., finally is living in Paris,” Anamaria says. “He’s actually trilingual, pulling influences from all these cultures.”
Back in the Cuban jazz world, Felix says Harold López-Nussa is another jazz pianist to look out for.
“He comes from a musical family in Cuba. His dad and his brother are drummers. His uncle is a very well-known jazz pianist from the ’70s and ’80s,” Felix says.
López-Nussa’s brother joins him on “Tumba La Timba,” off his new album, Timba a la Americana.
Shoutouts to Felix and Anamaria for joining us on the show, and make sure to stick around for more Hispanic Heritage Month programming on World Cafe, including our 21 Days of Musica Latina project. Every weekday through Oct. 15, we’re showcasing the music of a different Latin American country with a curated playlist of essential tracks and new music.
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World Cafe: 09/18/2023