Felix Contreras
Felix Contreras is co-creator and host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering program about Latin Alternative music and Latino culture. It features music as well as interviews with many of the most well-known Latinx musicians, actors, filmmakers, and writers. He has hosted and produced Alt.Latino episodes from Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, and throughout the U.S. since the show started in 2010.
Previously, Contreras was a reporter and producer NPR's Arts Desk and, among other stories and projects, covered a series reported from Mexico on the musical movement called Latin Alternative; helped produce NPR's award-winning series 50 Great Voices; and reported a series of stories on the financial challenges aging jazz musicians face.
Contreras is a recovering television journalist who has worked for both NBC and Univision in Miami and California. He's a part-time musician who plays Afro-Cuban percussion with various jazz and Latin bands in the Washington, DC, area. He is also NPR Music's resident Deadhead.
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Known affectionately as El Judio Maravilloso, "the marvelous Jew," the Brooklyn-born pianist, arranger, producer and activist helped to popularize the music that would become known as salsa. -
The musician rose to fame in the 1960s and '70s, bringing global attention to his hip-shaking style of music. -
Pacheco was a prolific songwriter and musical arranger whose work helped fuel the careers of Celia Cruz and Ruben Blades. -
An indomitable musical culture survived the tragedy of the international slave trade. Alt.Latino captured a weeklong celebration featuring artists Trombone Shorty, Tank and the Bangas and Cimafunk. -
Santana's debut album was released on this day 50 years ago. NPR's Felix Contreras considers it a game-changing moment in the marriage of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and rock 'n' roll.
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The song "Afilando Los Cuchillos" was a major feature during the protests in Puerto Rico that led to the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rossello last week.
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Latin artists at SXSW 2019 Festival have traveled from Brazil and Venezuela where speaking out against government officials can be dangerous. -
There's a new box set of rare Cuban music recordings from the 1950s and 60s. The set is called The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions. Hear an interview with co-producer Judy Cantor-Navas on Alt. Latino.
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The norteño band became the first major Latin band to play at Folsom Prison since Johnny Cash did in 1968. -
NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael and Felix Contreras dish about their favorite new discoveries at South by Southwest 2018 over a plate of barbecue.
