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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The tight and powerful group breathes fire into a Grateful Dead classic and smolders on a Hank Williams song. -
Every aspect of a Lido Pimienta performance is intensely intentional. Her turn behind the Tiny Desk is, as expected, rich with symbolism and musical beauty. -
What an honor to host Fito Páez, one of the pioneers of Argentine rock, at the Tiny Desk for the start of Latin Music Month. -
Did we really squeeze the big sound of Living Colour behind the Tiny Desk? Yes, we did. And, yet, the band lost none of its intensity. -
Led by Johanna Castañeda and Ronald Polo, REBOLU immerses the Tiny Desk in the rich and vibrant sound of Colombia's Caribbean coast. -
Roberto Fonseca's mastery of the Cuban piano tradition fuels this fiery performance. -
The vocalist uses the genre of Portuguese fado as a base to explore other musical worlds. -
One of the world's most recognized drummers glides easily from genre to genre in this performance. -
The group's Afro-Cuban sounds honor tradition while stretching the boundaries of how it's expressed. -
The Mexican band brings its signature "Boleroglam" to the Tiny Desk.
