Felix Contreras
Felix Contreras is co-creator and co-host of Alt.Latino, NPR's pioneering radio show and podcast celebrating Latin music and culture since 2010 and a curator for the acclaimed Tiny Desk Concert series.
A knowledgeable international ambassador for Latino heritage and arts, "Tio Felix" travels extensively in search of new talent and new music and captures important legacy performers in jazz and Latin genres. He appears regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines, All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Various national and international publications have quoted his expertise on the contemporary influences of Latin culture, music, and media.
He's a recovering TV journalist whose first post at NPR in 2001 was as a Producer/Reporter for the NPR News Arts Desk.
He is also the other NPR Music resident Deadhead and an Afro Caribbean percussionist who performs around the DC area with various jazz and Latin jazz bands.
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Jazz has often been called America's musical gift to the world. This week's guests remind us not only of the well-documented ways that Cuba revolutionized that gift, but also how it blossomed in South America. Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana and Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba stopped by after their recent Tiny Desk performance to chat about their own personal histories with jazz and its lineage in their respective countries. The memories Rubalcaba shares about Havana's jazz scene in the 1980s adds another layer to a story we've talked a lot about on Alt.Latino. And Aldana looks back on her youth learning music from her father and grandfather, both of whom were Chilean jazz pioneers. The conversation also covers the music they played at the Tiny Desk, which comes from their recent album, 'Filin,' a reexamination of a Cuban musical movement that lasted from the 1940s through the '60s. Ultimately, this week's episode is time spent with two master musicians to hear how their lives and experiences contribute to their mutual appreciation and love of jazz. Check out Melissa Aldana and Gonzalo Rubalcaba's Tiny Desk Concert here. This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. Suraya Mohamed is the executive producer of NPR Music. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. -
Tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana and pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba interpret the soul of the Latin American song book at El Tiny. -
We asked people to share the story of how they became a Deadhead and received hundreds of responses. Their stories are tender, comical and sometimes spiritual. -
Jim James of My Morning Jacket and Jeff Tweedy of Wilco are two artists who've dipped their toes into the Grateful Dead extended universe through a singular experience: by sharing the stage with Bob Weir. -
Over the last decade, reality TV mogul Andy Cohen has been spotted dancing at concerts for Dead & Company. But his ties to the Grateful Dead go much farther than that. -
The Grateful Dead understood the importance of recording its legacy. A number of archivists and historians are dedicated to maintaining the band's immense collection of music and memorabilia. -
This summer marks a moment of transition in the Grateful Dead's long, strange trip: the first in many years where there is no clear center of the band's universe. Where do Deadheads go from here? -
The South Bronx bandleader took the Latin genre to new heights while recording for Fania Records. -
The Grammy winner and Blue Note label head recalls the unique challenges and rewards he faced when the late Bob Weir recruited him for an intimate new project in 2018. -
For three decades with the Grateful Dead and three more after the group ended following the 1995 death of his bandmate Jerry Garcia, Weir helped build and sustain the band's legacy across generations.
