HispanicBusiness

While many people are familiar with Latin music, few realize the full extent to which it has influenced jazz, rock, country and rhythm and blues in America.

The song "Louie Louie," for instance, was inspired by a Latin song called the "El Loco Cha Cha." And did you know that Salsa music was developed in New York?

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, PBS next month will premiere Latin Music USA, a four-hour documentary series celebrating the Latin rhythms at the heart of the American music created by Hispanics.

Airing on primetime from 9 to 11 p.m. on the Mondays of October 12 and 19, the series will reveal the Latin sounds that have influenced the music of great American artists from the Drifters to the Isley Brothers to Santana.

With exclusive interviews and never-before-seen footage, the documentaries also will feature the stories of artists such as Celia Cruz, the Fania All-Stars, Carlos Santana, Shakira, Gloria Estefan and Ricky Martin.

As part of the project's multimedia and multicultural approach, Latin Music USA has partnered with the Spanish TV network V-me to premiere the series on two consecutive Tuesdays, October 13th and 20th at 10 p.m., fully translated and narrated in Spanish by Leila Cobo, one of the world's foremost experts in contemporary Latin music.

Viewers also can visit pbs.org, where they can watch an extensive lineup of programs honoring and exploring Latino culture in "Nuestras Historias | Our Stories," a special Hispanic Heritage Month collection

As for the Latin Music USA series, it is comprised of four 60-minute episodes featuring a fast-paced mix of music and interviews:

* Episode One, BRIDGES (10/12, 9-10 p.m. on PBS): The first hour traces the rise of Latin jazz and the explosion of the mambo and the cha cha cha as they swept the U.S. from East to West and looks at how Latin music infiltrated rhythm and blues and rock 'n' roll through the 1960s.
* Episode Two, THE SALSA REVOLUTION (10/12, 10-11 p.m. on PBS): The second hour explores how Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in New York reinvented the Cuban son and the Puerto Rican plena by adding elements from soul and jazz to create Salsa, which became a defining rhythm for Latinos the world over.

* Episode Three, THE CHICANO WAVE (10/19, 9-10 p.m. on PBS): Mexican Americans in California, Texas and throughout the Southwest created their own distinct musical voices during the second half of the 20th century. This episodes shows how their music played an important role in the struggle for Chicano civil rights and ultimately propelled them from the barrio to the national stage.

* Episode Four, DIVAS AND SUPERSTARS (10/19, 10-11 p.m. on PBS): The final hour focuses on the Latin pop explosion of the turn of the 21st century and the success of artists like Ricky Martin, Gloria Estefan and Shakira in the English-language market. As studios concentrate on star-driven pop, Latino youth gravitate toward urban fusions like Spanish rap and Reggaeton, as well as Rock en Esp