Done with 5-yr. stint in gov't, salsa legend plays in N.Y. on Nov. 28 Having served as Panama's Minister of Tourism for five years, Rubén Blades is back to music and the States. He plays in New York on Nov. 28, part of a tour through U.S. and Latin American cities that he says will be his last with his renowned band, Seis del Solar.
Few Latin American musicians have had the staying power of Rubén Blades.
Forty years after he recorded his first album, his brand of music with a conscience remains the standard bearer of the genre.
This is the case even as Blades ventured into acting, appearing in some 30 films and in TV, into politics, running for president of Panama in 1994, and more recently into public service.
In between, he became a lawyer and won seven Grammys. His 1978 hit “Pedro Navaja” can be still be heard in U.S. and Latin American barrios.
After five years working as minister of tourism in his native Panama, Blades, 61, returned in July to music and civilian life in the States.
He plays at United Palace Theater in Washington Heights on Nov. 28, part of a tour through U.S. and Latin American cities that he says will be his last with his renowned band, Seis del Solar.
Viva caught up with a relaxed and hungry Blades last Friday at El Quijote restaurant in Chelsea.
INTERVIEW
How does it feel to be back in New York and return to music?
I really never left, I never leave any place. I didn’t say no to music, I said yes to the country. That’s why I have done so many things that are apparently conflictive. When I arrive in New York, brother....full story
Done with 5-yr. stint in gov't, salsa legend plays in N.Y. on Nov. 28
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