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Latin Roots
The Pacific Coast with Catalina Maria Johnson August 8, 2013 - Today we hear music from the Pacific coast which is dominated by marimba. Colombia has a large Afro Colombian population, up to 80% of the country is of African descent. Our Latin Roots guest today, Catalina Maria Johnson, from the Chicago based program Beat Latino, plays music from the coastal areas where that population is concentrated. It turns out that geography plays a major…
Another live session for Latin Roots as we travel to Fidel Nadal’s home studio in Buenos Aires for a session with a man who owns his genre: Argentine Reggae.
On our recent World Cafe Travel Adventure to Buenos Aires we learned one thing right away: Argentineans may be known for tango, but really, they like to rock! We were invited to the home studio of Catupecu Machu, one of Argentina's most popular bands.
We welcome back Judy Cantor-Navas, Managing Editor of Billboard En Espanol for this Latin Roots segment on flamenco. Much about the origins of this music is contested. Yes, it is now strongly associated with Spain but some say its beginnings actually stretch back to India. It is also strongly associated with the Spanish city of Sevilla but Judy tells us that is also contested.
It didn't just develop, it exploded in popularity through the 90's. Post-Revolution, after training in jazz and classical conservatories, many Cuban musicians were looking for something new that would challenge their skills. Timba developed as a music combining Rumba with other dance music including even funk.
The a cappella style has a sense of urgency, like a physiological necessity for those who sing it. A naked person walks into a fancy gala. In a world of overproduced, painstakingly packaged and perfectly polished music, that's what it's like to hear Canto Cardenche — a completely a cappella style of Mexican music — for the first time.
"Oh! It is so good to fly, at two in the morning, at two in the morning it's so good to fly, oh mama! To fly and let yourself fall, into the arms of a lady……The witch grabs me, she takes me to her home, she sits me on her lap, she gives me kisses …. 'Oh tell me, tell me tell me: how many creatures have you consumed?' 'Nobody, nobody! I only wish to…
Our Latin Roots reporter Rachel Faro is back this time to introduce us to Garifuna. Rachel wears many hats: as an artist, a record producer and she owns the Ashe record label specializing in Latin music. Garifuna music was originally specific to the geographic area surrounding coastal Belize and Honduras in Central America. It is the music of the Garifuna people who are descendants of slaves settled on islands off the coast, arriving after a…
Today we welcome a new Latin Roots co-host, singer-songwriter, Grammy nominated record producer and record company owner Rachel Faro to tell us about the Portuguese tradition of Fado. Fado began in Lisbon and has been around for at least a couple of centuries. Over the years the music has moved from the streets to the concert halls. Fado singers like the national treasure Amalia Rodrigues and Mariza, both of whom we will hear from today,…
A hefty task for our Latin Roots co-host today Josh Norek: Define the broad swath of Argentine rock with just few bands. But Josh, the co-host of The Latin Alternative, is up to it precisely because he spent time in Buenos Aires as student during a most vibrant period for the music. In this session he plays a classic from Los Fabulosos Cadillacs who had ska influences in their early work in the 80's. That…
In this 29th installment of Latin Roots from World Cafe, David Dye and Grammy-winning Latin music producer Aaron Levinson embark on a transcontinental journey exploring the history and richness of bolero music — a slow-tempo dance with distinctive forms in Cuba and Spain. Bolero typically focuses on themes like love or loss, but as Dye and Levinson discuss, the critical difference between both forms is actually the rhythm. Since its beginnings in the late 18th…
Grammy-winning latin music producer Aaron Levinson and host David Dye embark on a journey to the world of merengue music, starting with its roots in the Dominican Republic. Largely influenced by the dictator Rafael Trujillo to celebrate his political agenda, merengue is a form of fast paced, rhythmic music. Utilizing diatonic accordions, tamboras, and the güira, traditional merengue bands have irresistibly induced listeners from around the world to move with the sounds of the tropical…
Latin Roots is made possible by a grant from the Wyncote Foundation.
