The Panamanian Rubén Blades is a powerful personality who protests dictatorship in both music and politics and advocates for free speech, fraternity and unity in Latin America. After the fall of the military regime in 1989 (also thanks to an invasion of the United States), free elections were held in 1994 for the first time in 26 years. Blades ran for president but came in second. A loss for Panama,
… but a profit for the music, because Blades has been captivating people with this since the seventies. Blades is one of those musicians who gives the genre salsa deeper meaning with his astute, powerful, humane and society-oriented lyrics. The album Siembra, released in 1978 by Blades in collaboration with the trombonist Willie Colón, is the best-selling salsa record of all time. Since then, Blades has made numerous other albums, constantly innovating the genre by integrating salsa with other musical traditions such as Western pop music and film scores. He worked in Nothing But The Truth together with Elvis Costello, Lou Reed and Sting and in 1985 he started a film career with Crossover Dreams. His latest CD Tiempos contains all the ingredients that make Blades' music so attractive: his warm, casual and sincere voice, lively and complex rhythms, beautiful melodies and beautiful Spanish-language lyrics. (SvdP) Lou Reed and Sting and in 1985 he started a film career with Crossover Dreams. His latest CD Tiempos contains all the ingredients that make Blades' music so attractive: his warm, casual and sincere voice, lively and complex rhythms, beautiful melodies and beautiful Spanish-language lyrics. (SvdP) Lou Reed and Sting and in 1985 he started a film career with Crossover Dreams. His latest CD Tiempos contains all the ingredients that make Blades' music so attractive: his warm, casual and sincere voice, lively and complex rhythms, beautiful melodies and beautiful Spanish-language lyrics. (SvdP)more
