Tropical Flavors of Puerto Rico!!

Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and unincorporated U.S. territory with a landscape of green mountains, waterfalls and the tropical rainforest of El Yunque National Forest. It's known for its white-sand beaches and coral reefs, popular for snorkeling, diving, surfing and sailing. In San Juan, the capital and largest city, the Isla Verde area is known for its beach bars, nightclubs and casinos.

A Brief  Boricuan Musical History

Reggaeton Artist - Don Omar

The music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. The most conspicuous musical sources have been Spain and West Africa, although many aspects of Puerto Rican music reflect origins elsewhere in Europe and the Caribbean and, over the last century, from the U.S.A. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres, ranging from indigenous genres like bomba y plena, aguinaldo and danza, to recent hybrids like reggaeton. 

Jose Feliciano

Marc Anthony

In the realm of classical music, the island hosts two main orchestras, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Puerto Rico. The Casals Festival takes place annually in San Juan, drawing in classical musicians from around the world.

With respect to opera, the legendary Puerto Rican tenor Antonio Paoli was so celebrated, that he performed private recitals for Pope Pius X and the Czar of Russia Nicholas II. In 1907, Paoli was the first operatic artist in world history to record an entire opera - when he participated in a performance of Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo in Milan, Italy.

Over the past fifty years, Puerto Rican artists such as Jorge Emmanuelli, Yomo Toro, Ramito, Jose Feliciano, Bobby Capo, Tito Puente, Eddie Palmieri, Ray Barreto, Dave Valentin, Omar Rodríguez-López, Hector Lavoe and Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez have thrilled audiences around the world.

Jennifer Lopez

THIS MONDAY, LATIN SOUNDZZ!! WILL HOST PUERTO RICO AS THE THEME COUNTRY OF THE WEEK!! DON'T MISS OUT THIS GREAT SHOW, AS WE FLY TO LA ISLA DEL ENCANTO, PUERTO RICO PAPA! DALE!! ONLY ON KSFS RADIO. 10 AM PACIFIC TIME. ALSO DONT FORGET TO CHECK OUT OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES:

 FACEBOOK.COM/LATINSOUNDZZ

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DON'T FORGET THAT IF YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST OR ANY OF THE PAST, YOU CAN CHECK OUT SOUND CLOUD PAGE AND LISTEN TO ANY OF THEM.

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Let the musical fusion inspire you...

What is Central America essentially?

Map of Central America

According to web encyclopedia Central America represents a stretch of land between North and South America. It is the only land "passage" connecting both continents. There are 7 countries within this landmark. Countries of Central America (from north to south):

- Guatemala

- Belize
- Honduras
- El Salvador
- Nicaragua
- Costa Rica
- Panama.

Some scholars do not consider Belize and Panama to be a part of Central America due to historical events. Panama was part of Colombia in the past, and Belize used to be the "British Honduras".

View of Downtown Panama City

Central American countries are similar to each other in many aspects such as shared love for musical styles like cumbia, salsa, merrengue, marimba and many others. At the same time, however, each country has its own unique characteristics when it comes to cuisine, folklore, historical background, geography, economy etc.

Panamanian indigenous music band

There are not only economic differences between countries, but also within countries. For example, each of the Central American countries has a small group of very rich individuals and a large group of very poor individuals. For the most part, all of Central America is regarded to be part of the "developing world", because middle class is non-existent, the health care system is not up to standards, and many people don't have access to basic education.

Salvadorian folkloric outfits 

Panama and Costa Rica are considered to be the most economically developed. On the other hand, Nicaragua is the least developed due to highest adult illiteracy rate and some other factors. Guatemala has the highest population out of the six countries, and Belize is the only country where the official language is English, not Spanish. Want to know more? Then listen to our show on November 23rd, as we will have some fun facts about each country! Let's talk about music now! Music of Central America is simply fascinating. From rich indigenous sounds of Mayan instruments to tropical fusions of cumbia, salsa, merrengue, reggae, reggaeton, garifuna, punta music & many more. We will talk about each musical style in more detail during next Monday episode. 

City of San Miguel in El Salvador

Amazing tropical forests, green mountainous regions, pristine waters and beaches, and delicious food. Central America is definitely a special place in the world. 

Pristine waters of Belize

Celeste River in Costa Rica

Speaking of food (mmm yummy...), I will share with you my favorite Central American dish during the episode. Listen to us LIVE this upcoming Monday on ksfsmedia.net/radio.

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Lotzz of love,
La Guerita

Show cancellation on November 9th...

Hello Everyone!

Today's morning was such a... BUMMER !!! We were so disappointed that we had to cancel today's show. We woke up happy this morning and ready to take you on a musical journey to Venezuela. But... mother nature didn't let us; or perhaps the power generator at the radio station. 

Long story short, there was a power outage in the early morning hours at the San Francisco's Sunset district. Unfortunately, it affected the KSFS Radio Station as well.

We couldn't get the live stream out & have the show. I know! What a bummer! We saw many of you were on the website this morning to listen to the show. Thank you for your love and support!

The good news is that we will be back next week with the Venezuela Episode!!! 

Latin Soundzz is not going anywhere, so sit tight or lay comfortably and tune in next Monday on November 16th. 

Lotzz of love,

El Chuy and La Guerita 

A country of the most beautiful women in the world...

It's time for Venezuela Everyone! :)

It's la Guerita.

Let me share with you some things I know about this country...

Venezuela borders with Colombia, Brazil and Guyana

Venezuela - big, fascinating, diverse & beautiful. It's one of the very few places in the world, where you can find pristine beaches and water, large palm trees, high mountains, vast plains, enormous waterfalls, tropical forests, and sand deserts all in one country. It's is also extremely rich when it comes to biodiversity and the ethnic backgrounds of its human inhabitants. The people of Venezuela come from multicultural and multiracial mixes of all kind. Their population is composed of indigenous people, people of African descent, Europeans such as the Spanish, Italians, Germans and Portuguese, and even Arabic people.

Miss Venezuela 2015

Many say that this multiracial diversity is the main reason why Venezuelan women are considered to be the most beautiful females in the world. Up to this day Venezuela holds a record for winning the highest number of beauty contests on Earth! I dare to say that Venezuelan music is as fascinating as its beautiful women. Every region has its own musical traditions. The capital, Caracas, has a very rich history of Venezuelan merengue music, which is quite different from the Dominican merengue; salsa is also huge in the capital. The area of vast plains and farms closer to the border with Colombia developed a unique, Venezuelan-only style of music called Joropo.

Angel Waterfalls of Venezuela 

There are many more styles of music in Venezuela, but I will not talk about them in this post, and save them for the upcoming episode of Latin Soundzz. During the episode we will talk about the most influential artists, their music styles, and play you the best Venezuelan songs of all times. On a side note guys, Venezuela is also home to one of the best soap operas ever produced. Venevision, their home network responsible for production, has recorded many great novelas. In fact, the very first telenovela of my life (the first one I watched) was "Samantha" produced by Venevision in 1998. I don't remember it too well anymore, but I do remember being engaged and entertained by that series. I wish I had some free time to watch it again. It would probably bring me some nice memories. I'm curious if any of you saw this novela. Don't forget to listen to us this upcoming Monday, on November 9th on ksfsmedia.net/radio.

Telenovela "Samantha" produced by Venevision

All you have to do is copy and paste or type this link into a browser, and the radio icon will appear with the live broadcast. We will be waiting for you at 10 am Pacific Time. You can listen to us on a computer, laptop, tablet or your phone as long as you have Internet connection. I will have some more fun facts about Venezuela for you guys, and we will talk about everything in more detail. See you on Monday! :)