Ruben Blades

Name: Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna
Date of birth: July 16, 1948
Place of birth: Panama city, Panama

Ruben Blades is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres.

As songwriter, Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of Central American nueva canción and Cuban nueva trova as well as experimental tempos and political inspired Nuyorican salsa to his music. Rubén Blades is one of the most successful vocalists in the history of Panamanian music.

When starting out, he was a member of the bands led by Ray Baretto and Willie Colón, and since then has continued influencing salsa music with his words of high literary quality and political content, and his modern mentality arrangements that replaced the typical wind and Latin percussion sections with synthesizers and drums. Often labeled the "Latin Bruce Springsteen", Blades has given the Central American middle class a voice.

Early Days
Having grown up in a middle class neighborhood in the city of Panama, Blades inherited his talent for music from his parents. His mother, Anoland, who emigrated from Cuba, played the piano and sang in Spain. His father, Rubén Sr., a police detective, played the bongó. Inspired by the Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ doo-woop song, Blades began singing North American rock and pop songs in his pre-teenage years. In 1963 he was the lead singer in a band called the Saints, formed by his older brother Luis. The political conflicts in Panama in the mid 60’s had a profound effect on Blades as he became more and more committed to his own roots, giving up singing in any language other than that of his native language, namely Spanish. 

Music Career
When the Panamanian government closed the University one year later, he made his first trip to the U.S. Once there, Blades recorded an album "De Panamá a Nueva York" (From Panama To New York), with Pete Rodríguez. Soon after the release of the record, the University of Panama was reopened and Blades returned to complete his studies. Although he accepted a position as a lawyer for the Banco de Panamá (Bank of Panama), he returned after his graduation to the States to visit his parents who had emigrated to Miami in 1974.

Blades began his formal musical career in New York writing songs whilest working in the mailroom at Fania Records, he came across as a talented songwriter who still had to develop a singing style of his own.
In the U.S., Blades travelled to New York and accepted a job with a record label that focused on Latin music, Fania. One year later he replaced Tito Allen as vocalist in Ray Barreto’s band. When Barretto left the band to form a Latin fusion group, Blades became bandleader and renamed it "Guarare".

In 1975, Blades composed and sang in the Barreto recording "Canto Abacua". Hence Blades was named composer of the year by the "Latin New York" magazine. He had also been playing in Willie Colón’s band and stayed on with him for six more years. His contribution reached the sky with the album that sold three million copies, "Siembra", which included "Pedro Navaja", the single with the highest sales in the history of salsa.

In 1980, his song "Tiburón" (Shark), which spoke out against North American intervention in the Caribbean, was taken off the air in Miami. In 1982, Blades formed his new band, Seis del Solar, an exciting fusion of Latin music, rock, reggae and Caribbean sounds. His album debut, "Buscando América" (Searching for America) was released in 1983. A year later, Blades signed up at Harvard, to get a masters degree in international law.

In 1985, Blades came to be recognized as co-writer and star of the independent film Crossover Dreams as a New York salsa singer willing to do anything to break into the mainstream. Blades also began his career in films scoring music for soundtracks. Also in 1985, he earned a master's degree in international law from Harvard Law School. He was also the subject of Robert Mugge's documentary The Return of Ruben Blades, which debuted at that year's Denver Film Festival.

Trivia:
Blades' first notable hit was a song on the 1977 album Metiendo Mano that he had composed in 1968: "Pablo Pueblo," The song later became his unofficial campaign song when he ran for president of Panama.

After winning his first Grammy Award for Escenas in 1986, he recorded the album Agua de Luna. The next year he released the English-language collaboration Nothing But the Truth with rock artists Sting, Elvis Costello, and Lou Reed the same year as the more traditionally salsa Antecedente, another Grammy Award winner.

Discography:
1970 - From Panama to New York - Rubén Blades & la Orquesta de Pete Rodriguez
1975 - Barretto - with Ray Barretto orchestra
1976 - Fania All Stars Tribute To Tito Rodríguez
1977 - La Raza Latina - Salsa Suite with Larry Harlow and his orchestra Harlow
1978 - Fania All Stars Spanish Fever
1979 - Bohemio y Poeta - Rubén Blades (Fania compilation)
1980- Maestra Vida: Primera Parte - Rubén Blades (produced by Willie Colon)
1981- Canciones Del Solar De Los Aburridos - Rubén Blades & Willie Colón
1982- The Last Fight - Rubén Blades & Willie Colon
1983- El Que La Hace La Paga - Rubén Blades
1984- Buscando América - Rubén Blades & Seis del Solar
1985 - Crossover Dreams soundtrack
1985 - Escenas  - Rubén Blades y Seis de Solar
1986 - Doble Filo  - Rubén Blades
1987 - Agua de Luna  - Rubén Blades y Seis del Solar
1988 - Nothing But the Truth  - Rubén Blades
1990 - Live! Rubén Blades y Son del Solar
1991 - Caminando  - Rubén Blades y Son del Solar
1992 - Amor Y Control  - Rubén Blades y Son Del Solar
1993 - Poeta Latina  - Rubén Blades (UK Fania compilation)
1995 - Mucho Mejor (Westwind)  - Rubén Blades
1996 - La Rosa de Los Vientos  - Rubén Blades
1998 - Sus Más Grandes Exitos  - Rubén Blades (Fania compilation)
1999 - Tiempos  - Rubén Blades y Editus
2001 - Best  - Rubén Blades Fania compilation
2002 - Salsa Caliente De Nu York  - Rubén Blades (Fania compilation)
2003 - Una Decada  - Rubén Blades (Sony compilation)
2004 - Experencia Ruben Blades  - Rubén Blades (Fania compilation)
2005 - Maestro de la Fania  - Rubén Blades (Fania compilation)
2009 - Cantares del Subdesarrollo  - Rubén Blades

 
By Lourd Vijay

---
About the Author: Lourd Vijay is the principal Promoter of Latin culture, music and dance in the Asian Region. He recently stood 10th at the “most Popular Entrepreneur of the year 2009” amongst 180 nominees from across the country. An innovative choreographer and a very able instructor, he is the director of the Lourd Vijay’s Dance Studios (www.lvds.in) in India.