Latin Music USA

Thursdays at 9 pm beginning October 29, 2009 (NJN1)

From Latin jazz and mambo to salsa, Tejano, Chicano rock, Latin pop and reggaeton, Latin Music USA tells the story of the rise of new American music forged from powerful Latin roots and reveals the often overlooked influence of Latin music on jazz, hip hop, rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll — and on all of American culture. It’s a fresh take on America's musical history, reaching across time and across musical genres to embrace the exciting hybrid sounds created by Latinos, musical fusions that have deeply enriched popular music in the U.S. over more than five decades. Jimmy Smits narrates. For more information, visit www.pbs.org/wgbh/latinmusicusa

Episode 1: Bridges – Thursday, October 29 at 9 pm
The first hour traces the rise of Latin jazz and the explosion of the mambo and the cha-cha as they swept the U.S. from East to West and looks at how Latin music infiltrated rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll through the 1960s.

Episode 2: The Salsa Revolution – Thursday, October 29 at 10 pm
The second hour explores how Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York reinvented the son cubano and the plena from Puerto Rico by adding elements from soul and jazz to create salsa — which became a defining rhythm for Latinos the world over.

Episode 3: The Chicano Wave – Thursday, November 5 at 9 pm
Mexican Americans in California, Texas and throughout the Southwest created their own distinct musical voices during the second half of the 20th century. This episode shows how their music played an important role in the struggle for Chicano civil rights and ultimately propelled them from the barrio to the national stage.

Episode 4: Divas and Superstars – Thursday, November 5 at 10 pm
The final hour focuses on the Latin pop explosion of the turn of the 21st century and the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Shakira in the English-language market. As studios concentrate on star-driven pop, Latino youth have gravitated toward urban fusions like Spanish rap and reggaetón, as well as rock en Español.