Support for NPR and the following message comes from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

RWJF is a national philanthropy, working toward a future where health is no longer a privilege but a right.

Learn more at RWJF.org.

From NPR Music, this is Alt Latino. I'm Felix Contreras.

We're finally giving Anna Maria Sarah some days off.

So this week, we're going to change things up a bit.

We're going to take a deep dive into something I've been curious about

and I have talked about on past episodes,

musicians from Latin America who play jazz.

Music musicians from Latin America who play jazz. Now, jazz has been called America's Gift to the World,

and this week we'll meet some South American jazz musicians,

vocalists and instrumentalists who occupy a unique space

where Ella Fitzgerald rubs elbows with Mercedes Sosa

and where Argentine Chacarrera coexist with swing. We're going to hear from six different

musicians who are each making amazing music and each tell us something different about the state

of jazz today. Now, we'll hear some common themes, stories about how they came to jazz,

their passion for the rich folk traditions of Latin America,

and the inspiration they find

from reflecting their own cultures and traditions

into their own unique expression.

Let's get into it.

Music Hello, my name is Claudia Cunia. I am a singer, storyteller, songwriter, composer, band leader, a woman from the south of the America who was born in Chile.

...