Date: 2023-02-08
Time: 03:45:41 UTC
Title: Copacetic Music Hour Preview, 2/3/23: Ruben Blades
Another week has passed, which means it's time for another episode of the
copacetic music hour! This week we'll enjoy Panamanian musician,
singer-songwriter, actor, and activist Ruben Blades Bellido de Luna, better
known as Ruben Blades. Ruben is famous for fusing progressive nueva cancion and
nueva trova genres with the tempos of son cubano to create what is called
"thinking persons' salsa music." Born July 16, 1948 in Panama City, Panama,
Ruben was the son of Cuban musician and actress Anoland Diaz and Colombian
athlete and percussionist Ruben Dario Blades Senior. His mother's great uncle
was involved in the Cuban independence movement while his paternal grandfather
was an English speaker from St. Lucia who moved to Panama to be an accountant.
As a young musician, Blades was a vocalist with Los Salvajes del Ritmo and a
singer-songwriter for the conjunto Bush y sus Magnificos. He considered his
strongest musical influences at the time to be the Joe Cuba sextet and Fania
star Cheo Feliciano.
After earning multiple degrees at the Universidad Nacional de Panama in
political science and law, Blades moved to the US with his family in 1974. He
first moved to Miami and then to New York City, where he would write songs
while working in the mailroom at the cradle of salsa champions, Fania Records.
It was at that time that he started collaborating with Willie Colon, Larry
Harlow, and Ray Barretto. Blades' first notable hit with Fania was Pablo
Pueblo, a song about a working class father returning home after a long day's
work, which he composed in 1968 but released on the Metiendo Mano album in
1977. Perhaps his most famous hit, however, would be recorded in 1978 - the
song El Cantante, written for Colon's former musical partner Hector Lavoe.
Colon and Blades' album Siembra, released also in 1978, would go on to be the
best-selling salsa record in history, selling over 3 million copies, and
including the hit Pedro Navaja (featured in tonight's episode).
While Blades would leave Fania in 1984, it was during this time that he would
take yet another occupation in his long, storied career, becoming an actor in
1982 with The Last Fight. He would continue acting through the 1990s and
onward, along with running for president of Panama unsuccessfully in 1994 and
continuing his musical career. In 2001, Blades was inducted into the
International Latin Music Hall of Fame, and he served as Panama's minister of
tourism for five years starting in 2004 under the Martin Torrijos
administration. During his musical career alone, he would win ten Grammy and
twelve Latin Grammy awards.
Tonight, as always, we'll enjoy a sampling of Ruben's hits alongside a fireside
IRC chat at the tilde.chat channel tilderadio (#tilderadio). Join us!
