The public broadcaster PBS will air tonight at 10:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) the documentary “Paquito D'Rivera: From Carne y Frijol to Carnegie Hall”, as part of its VOCES series and in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month 2026.
For viewers in South Florida, the station WPBT —which covers Miami-Dade and Broward— is airing 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 from WXEL, which serves Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast, will have to wait: that station has it scheduled 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 the PBS app, although online availability may depend on the region and the affiliated station.
The film, with a duration of 60 minutes, is written, produced, and directed by Juan Mandelbaum, an Argentine documentary filmmaker based in Boston with an extensive career at PBS. According to the official profile from Latino Public Media, the documentary explores D'Rivera's journey "from a child prodigy in Havana, Cuba, to becoming a performer, composer, and beloved ambassador of Latin jazz, awarded 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 D'Rivera's original concert titled The Journey, performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap.
The story narrated 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 combined jazz, rock, and Afro-Cuban rhythms. In 1980, during a tour of Spain, D'Rivera requested asylum at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid and exiled himself to 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 was at the Boston Latin CineFest, held at the Museum of Fine Arts in that city, in September 2025. Tonight's airing 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," describes PBS in its official announcement of the series VOCES, "tracing 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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