Harlem Hellfighters on a Latin Beat

As the U.S. prepares to enter World War I, a group of 17 Puerto Rican musicians are recruited to join the famously all-Black 369th Infantry, bringing together iconic musical artists like James Reese Europe, Rafael Hernández, Rafael Duchesne, and others.

Extraordinary valor and musicianship made the all-black 369th Infantry of the New York Army National Guard —aka Harlem Hellfighters— the most celebrated regiment of the First World War era. Now firmly established as a point of pride in African American history, it is less known that its ranks also included 17 illustrious musician-soldiers from Puerto Rico.

Conceived and directed by U.S. Artists Award and Doris Duke Artist Award winner Rosalba Rolón, Harlem Hellfighters on a Latin Beat features the motley and multicolor crew as they tumble on stage trailing a marvelous ruckus of ragtime jazz, military bugle calls, and Latin rhythms.