Latin Roots contributor and Music Journalist, Catalina Maria Johnson loves Christmas and joins us for a special Spanish language holiday selection that goes beyond "Feliz Navidad." She also has picked out another great Spotify selection for us! We hear music from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Columbia, and the Dominican Republic. In Latin America, some Christmas parties last for 9 days, from the 16th to the 26th, and they are all about the music.

In this segment of Latin Roots, Jasmine Garsd discusses how the Brazilian artistic movement of Tropicália, also known as Tropicalismo, emerged and became a prominent force in the Latin American music scene. Garsd provides listeners with insightful information about the oppression and corruption that plagued countries like Brazil during a totalitarian regime. However, during these obscure times in Brazil, a cultural manifestation, identified as antropofagia, was conceived by Brazilian poet Oswald de Andrade and took…

Nueva Cancion ("new song") is a style born in the '60s and '70s, when many Latin countries were ruled by repressive dictators. The songs were folk-inspired, with guitar-based song forms, percussive elements and socially charged lyrics. The late Victor Jara is seen as the father of the movement, and he comes up in this conversation. Alt.Latino host Jasmine Garsd says the movement has resonated with a lot of people and brought about change — a…

This installment is an encore presentation of Latin Roots #15 of World Cafe's Latin Roots music series is hosted by Chicago-based journalist Catalina Maria Johnson. She writes in Spanish and English for publications such as HOY, Revista Contratiempo, Gozamos and Nat Geo Music. and is a regular radio personality and hosts/producer for the radio program Beat Latino, which airs in Chicago, Mexico City and Berlin. In the late 19th century, Rumba started to emerge in…

In this installment of World Cafe's Latin Roots series, Raul Pacheco of the Grammy-winning band Ozomatli talks with host David Dye about how politics influence music. They've certainly affected Pacheco's music, as Ozomatli has been politically driven since its inception. The band's members started playing together 16 years ago, when they were working for the Peace and Justice Center of Los Angeles, and were asked to play for picketers during a strike. Pacheco lets the…

San Antonio native Alejandro Escovedo is the co-host of this sixteenth installment of Latin Roots, here to discuss the Latin character of his hometown's music in the 1950's. Escovedo's music has a strong Latin influence as a result of growing up in San Antoinio and listening to his parent's music. His Dad played mariachi, and his parents also to rancheras, country, and big band music - which all seeped into what he does today.