Alt.Latino: Chicano soul, Canary Islands merengue and a percussion supergroup

Feb 25, 2026

A whirlwind tour of global grooves from Canary Islands merengue to Afro-Brazilian textures. A spotlight on Chicano soul revival and its 1960s roots. A percussion supergroup blends Latin, jazz and Afro-Cuban traditions. New music picks that explore folkloric percussion, layered rhythms and diasporic mashups.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Canary Islands Shaped Merengue's Origins

Merengue has musical roots linking the Canary Islands and the Dominican Republic.
Ana Maria Sayre explains Canary Islanders brought early merengue variants to the Dominican Republic, and Quevedo's Ni Borracho echoes those island references.

ANECDOTE

Joey Quiñones Fuels The Chicano Soul Revival

Joey Quiñones is leading a Chicano soul revival in Southern California with retro R&B influences.
Felix Contreras links Joey's single Driftin' and his upcoming album In a Soul Situation to 1960s soul like Barbara Mason's Yes I'm Ready.

INSIGHT

Argentine Songwriting Meets Brazilian Production

Argentine singer Carolina Mama blends Argentine songwriting with Brazilian production textures.
Ana Maria Sayre highlights Lau Noa's production and folkloric percussion like berimbao and cachichi on the title track Amina.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode