Salsa Blades

SALWSING! as an album has different purposes. One, to present the Roberto Delgado Orchestra as an outfit capable of expanding its original Panamanian roots to cover other musical genres. Another, to present my interest in exploring other vocal directions and thus eliminate the stereotype that affirms that we are conditioned to only exist artistically within specific boundaries, according to our nationality.

GREATEST HITS is a more specific offering than the concept often suggests, culling hits from '84, '85 and '88. With a career stretching back to the mid-'60s, the cuts found here are but a sampling of Ruben Blades' decade or so with his illustrious sextet, Seis Del Solar. As the father of progressive salsa/tropical pop, some of Blades' greatest songwriting of the period is to be found here, in all its glistening studio glory. "Buscando America" opens with wafts of foreboding, Tyner-esque piano before easing into Blades' stirring, synth-laden call for Pan-American unity. With a piercing trombone arrangement that recalls Blades' days in Willie Colon's band, "La Marea" is a sinewy cut of salsa that explicates all the seasick tosses-and-turns of a choppy love affair. The singer's early predilection for doo-wop rears its head on the "who-oh" chorus of the soaring "El Padre Antonio" and the tongue-in-cheek intro to the witty "Decisiones." In the context of that dark morass of pop hell known as the mid-'80s, seekers of sweet melody and politically-conscious songcraft have plenty to dig on GREATEST HITS, Spanish-speaking or not.

Ruben Blades' concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one. SWING! Features jazz songs complemented with a couple of salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.

Ruben Blades' concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one. SWING! Features jazz songs complemented with a couple of salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.

Ruben Blades' concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one. SWING! Features jazz songs complemented with a couple of salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.

Ruben Blades' concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one. SWING! Features jazz songs complemented with a couple of salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.

Ruben Blades' concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one. SWING! Features jazz songs complemented with a couple of salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.

Ruben Blades' concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one. SWING! Features jazz songs complemented with a couple of salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.

Ruben Blades' concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one. SWING! Features jazz songs complemented with a couple of salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.