Latin Music Doc to Air on PBS

LOS ANGELES/ALEXANDRIA,
July 15: The two-part four-hour documentary Latin Music USA is set to air in January 2009 on PBS during a
multimedia event celebrating the influence of Latin American roots on American
music.

The program, produced by
WGBH and the BBC, features memorable characters and vibrant music and dance
showcasing the variety of Latin music in the U.S.

Programs one and two will
air on January 21, 2009, from 9 to 11 p.m. The first program follows the rise
of Latin jazz and the popularity of the mambo and the cha cha chá in the U.S.
Program two features Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York as they
reinvent different types of Cuban and Puerto Rican music, adding elements from
soul and jazz to create salsa dancing.

Programs three and four
will air on January 28, 2009, from 9 to 11 p.m. The third installment discusses
a new generation of Mexican Americans who were raised on rock, rhythm and blues
surrounded by country and western music as they reaffirm their cultural
identity in Tejano, Chicano and Latin rock. The last program looks at the Latin
pop explosion at the turn of the century, focusing on the success of artists like
Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Shakira in the English-language market.

WGBH is working with People
en Español and its website
PeopleEnEspanol.com in an online and in-book partnership that will include
exclusive editorial features and content across both brands.

Latin Music USA also has joined with the Smithsonian Institution’s
Latino Center to develop programming and a celebration of Latinos and Latino
culture in the U.S. The program will kick off on January 27, 2009, at a
Smithsonian venue in Washington, D.C., with a symposium about Latin Music
USA and will include program
producers, musical artists and historians and others who will talk about the
series and highlighted artists.

John F. Wilson, the senior
VP and chief television programming executive for PBS, said: “Latin Music
USA has the potential to be a
cultural milestone, advancing Americans’ understanding of Latino rhythm and
music as a dynamic player in shaping American society past, present and future.
And music, the universal language, communicates this phenomenon in a most
irresistible way.”

—By Jackie Stewart