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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The musician rose to fame in the 1960s and '70s, bringing global attention to his hip-shaking style of music. -
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Pacheco was a prolific songwriter and musical arranger whose work helped fuel the careers of Celia Cruz and Ruben Blades.
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Chick Corea was a towering figure in jazz for over 50 years — at home in straight ahead jazz, electric jazz fusion, Latin music and more. He won 23 Grammy awards.
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Alt.Latino host Felix Contreras looks back at some of the best music released in 2020.
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The 21st Latin Alternative Music Conference runs from June 9 through June 13. With help from live TV producer José Tillán, all of its panels, workshops and performances will be held entirely online.
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Santana had a brush with major success as a member of the band Malo, and made significant contributions to the breadth of Latin popular music.
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Alt.Latino host Felix Contreras offers a playlist of music that's comforting him and his listeners amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Hear a mélange of sounds and styles from across Latin America and the U.S., centered on the sentiment of loves lost and found in unlikely places.
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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.
