Latin Music USA
by Pamela A. Aguilar, Daniel McCabe
List Price:
Our Price: $18.98
You Save: $21.01 (53%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Narrator: Jimmy SmitsDirector: Daniel McCabe, Pamela A. Aguilar
Brand: PBD
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 240 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-10-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
Movie Reviews of Latin Music USA
Movie Review: Superb Documentary with interviews from ALL the important people
Summary: 5 Stars
This four-part, four-hour documentary was shown over various PBS stations around the country. In some cities - Philadelphia, for instance - they only aired the last two parts - since these cover rock and roll and the huge crossover artists like Serena and Ricky Martin. But here you get the whole story from the beginning. Actually the series doesn't quite start with the earliest years. In a clever, and successful, effort to draw non-Hispanics into the story, writer/director Daniel McCabe (obviously not Latin) uses Carlos Santa's performance at Woodstock as the opening shot. This episode, titled "Bridges", then takes the viewer back to the artists who came to the US from Puerto Rico and Cuba and planted the seeds of a musical movement which now garners its own Grammy Awards show on prime time TV.
Earlier this year I reviewed an excellent - though much shorter - DVD documentary, "From Mambo to Hip Hop", and gave it five stars. Then this DVD came out and now I've seen two five-star productions on this often overlooked subject.
There is literally something here for literally everyone, though pop and jazz are the prime focus. There's not much here on those artists who brought traditional Latin folk music to the US and kept it in the same form. The emphasis is on how the Latin music melded with the American musical culture to form something new. There will be some surprises for most who only know the obvious Latin acts like Martin, Richie Valens, Celia Cruz, Ruben Blades and Prez Prado. The moment for me was learning of the Fillmore's Bill Graham's Latin heritage and why, and how, he booked Carlos Santana. You'll find your own discoveries.
The only bonus features on the DVD are two VERY brief sections on Selena's father and a fairly dumb section watching Latin hip-hopper Daddy Yankee sitting around. I'm not even sure why these were included. But, the four hours of the actual of the series are enough to make this required viewing for any music lover and it belongs in every high school and university music library. It'll be a long time before this subject is covered this well, and this accurate again!
Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"
Summary of Latin Music USA
LATIN MUSIC USA highlights the great American music created by Latinos, and celebrates the Latin rhythms at the heart of jazz, rock, country, and rhythm and blues. It's a fresh take on American musical history, reaching across five decades to portray the rich mix of sounds created by Latinos and embraced by all. BRIDGES: See the rise of Latin jazz with the great Machito and the explosion of the mambo with Pérez Prado. Watch as Latin music infiltrates R&B and rock throughout the 1960s, from the Drifters to Santana and beyond. THE SALSA REVOLUTION: Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York reinvent Cuban and Puerto Rican rhythms, adding elements from soul and jazz to create salsa. Follow the rise and fall of legendary Fania Records with famed artists Willie Colón, Héctor Lavoe, and Rubén Blades. THE CHICANO WAVE: From Ritchie Valens and Freddy Fender to Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, and Selena, a new generation of Mexican Americans raised on rock, rhythm and blues, and country music expresses their cultural identity through Chicano rock, Latin rock, and Tejano. DIVAS & SUPERSTARS: Latin pop explodes with the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Shakira, and Gloria Estefan. But as studios concentrate on star-driven pop, Latino youth gravitate toward the urban fusions of reggaetón artists like Daddy Yankee and rapper Pitbull, while rock en español star Juanes becomes a global phenomenon.Similar DVD Movies
The History of Rock and RollWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-06-29; DVD
Best price: $17.98
Price in other shops:
Fania All Stars - Our Latin Thing (Nuestra Cosa) 40th Anniversary Limited Edition 2CD and DVD SetRelease date: 2011-08-23; Music CD
Best price: $14.22
Price in other shops:
Latin Music USA - Latin Music USAPBS; Release date: 2009-11-23; Music CD
Best price: $5.80
Price in other shops:
Calle 54Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2012-01-06; Published: 2001-11-01; DVD
Best price: $6.34
Price in other shops:
Yo Soy Boricua, Pa'Que Tu Lo Sepas!Magnolia Pictures; Release date: 2009-09-29; DVD
Best price: $8.29
Price in other shops:
Celia the QueenRelease date: 2009-09-29; DVD
Best price: $9.93
Price in other shops:
Chicano Rock!: The Sounds of East Los AngelesPBS; Release date: 2009-02-10; DVD
Best price: $13.83
Price in other shops:
Celia Cruz - Azucar!Release date: 2004-01-27; DVD
Best price: $4.06
Price in other shops:
Our Latin Thing (Nuestra Cosa) 40th Anniversary Limited Edition DVDRelease date: 2011-09-13; DVD
Best price: $9.89
Price in other shops:
From Mambo to Hip HopMusic Video Dist; Release date: 2009-03-24; DVD
Best price: $11.60
Price in other shops: