The Latin from Manhattan

Tomàs Algarin

As fundamental as WABE's H. Johnson is to this city's jazz pulse, WCLK's Tomàs Algarin is key to a Latin music scene that's continually threatening to bubble up into Atlanta's musical consciousness. Algarin's "Latin Aura" program, which airs Saturdays from 3-6 p.m. on Clark Atlanta University radio (91.9 FM), cuts across the genre's wide scope and spins classic material as well as rising artists.

"It's probably the best Latin show in Atlanta," says Doug Smith, one of Algarin's many non-Latin listeners. "There's a lot of variety, and I like the fact that he gives you background on the music. It helps a lot when I go to look for this music myself."

Algarin, who grew up in New York City, received a musical foundation from his parents that he's fostered over time. "Both my parents are Puerto Rican. My father was a dancer at the Palladium and a close friend of many of the historical figures both on Puerto Rico's music scene and the New York City scene. My mother schooled me on all of the traditional, roots music of the island. The balance between those two extremes meant I grew up in a musical environment."

What Algarin imparts to his local listeners now is the product of his musically saturated upbringing. Since Algarin began the program in 1983, "Latin Aura" has packed a combination of Afro-Cuban, Latin jazz and straight-up salsa. Despite a ten-year break from the show in the late '80s and early '90s, the show continues today with much the same blend. When he returned to Atlanta in 1997, his old fans got wind of his return and helped coax him back on the air. "It amazes me that I get calls from listeners who used to know me back in the '80s."

While Latin music has been subject to wild swings in exposure over the years, Algarin sees hope in the genre's current popularity and Atlanta's embrace of it. More marquee artists are including Atlanta in their touring itineraries, and a host of salsa dens populated by young listeners and ecstatic dancers are cropping up throughout clubland.

"It blows my mind how sophisticated Atlanta has become," Algarin says of the city's prevailing acceptance of Latin music. "In retrospect, it has been a struggle, but this is long overdue."

-- Joe Silva