The public broadcaster PBS will air the documentary "Paquito D'Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall" on October 12 at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), as part of its VOCES series and the programming for Hispanic Heritage Month 2026.
For viewers in South Florida, the station WPBT —which covers Miami-Dade and Broward— will broadcast the documentary tonight at 10:00 p.m. local time, as confirmed by South Florida PBS in its October schedule.
Those who receive the signal of WXEL, which serves Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast, will have to wait: that station is scheduling it for Sunday, October 25, at 2:00 p.m.
Since schedules may vary by local station, PBS recommends checking the schedule of each broadcaster before tuning in. The documentary will also be available on PBS.org and in the PBS app, although online availability may depend on the region and affiliated station.
The film, with a 60-minute duration, is written, produced, and directed by Juan Mandelbaum, an Argentine documentary filmmaker based in Boston with extensive experience in PBS. According to the official profile from Latino Public Media, the documentary chronicles D'Rivera's journey "from a child prodigy in Havana, Cuba, to becoming an interpreter, composer, and beloved ambassador of Latin jazz, awarded with multiple GRAMMY and Latin GRAMMY awards."
The production combines interviews and filmed performances in New York, Wolf Trap (Virginia), Miami, and Uruguay, and includes collaborations with pianist Chucho Valdés and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It also features the premiere of The Journey, a composition by D'Rivera performed in September 2022 alongside the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap, Virginia.
The story told in the documentary begins in Havana, where D'Rivera started playing the saxophone at the age of five and performed with the National Theater of Cuba Orchestra at ten. In 1973, he co-founded Irakere along with Chucho Valdés, a pioneering group that fused jazz, rock, and Afro-Cuban rhythms. In 1980, during an Irakere tour in Europe, D'Rivera decided to stay in Madrid, where he remained for nearly six months waiting for a U.S. visa before settling in New York—a decision that, according to the official film description, "had a significant personal cost."
The documentary had already been screened at festivals before reaching national television: its world premiere took place at CineFest Latino Boston, at the Museum of Fine Arts in that city, in September 2025. Tonight's broadcast on PBS marks its national television debut.
The film is part of a broader programming schedule for Hispanic Heritage Month on PBS, which this year also includes American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez and the 39th Hispanic Heritage Awards.
"Through music and memories, it celebrates the life and legacy of the legendary jazz musician Paquito D'Rivera," PBS states in its official announcement of the VOCES series, "following his journey from child prodigy in Cuba to a stellar career as a musician, composer, and beloved ambassador of Latin jazz."
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