''Salsa Big Band'' is the fourth studio album by

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

and Roberto Delgado & Orquesta, released on 29 April 2017 by Rubén Blades Productions. After the release of ''Son de Panamá'' in 2015, also recorded with Delgado & Orquesta, Blades decided to record another album with them, on which included eleven songs. He had previously recorded nine on the songs, and two were covers of songs written by

Luis Demetrio Luis Demetrio, born Luis Demetrio Traconis Molina (April 21, 1931 – December 17, 2007), was a Mexican singer and composer best known for composing the Spanish-language 1953 pop standard " ¿Quién será?" and its English-language counterpart " ...

and Rene Touzet. Delgado was the producer for the álbum. Blades' principal inspiration for the album was his admiration for the work of Puerto Ricans performers such as

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz c ...

Tito Rodríguez Pablo Rodríguez Lozada (January 4, 1923 – February 28, 1973), better known as Tito Rodríguez, was a Puerto Rican singer and bandleader. He started his career singing under the tutelage of his brother, Johnny Rodríguez. In the 1940s, both m ...

and Willie Rosario, and the big band sounds of the 1950's. ''Salsa Big Band'' received favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, with critics praising Blades' vision and willingness "to try new sounds"; one said that Blades was "still at the top of the salsa world". At the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, the album won for Album of the Year and Best Salsa Album; and at the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongc ...

the record won for Best Tropical Latin Album.

Background

Panamanian singer

recorded ''Son de Panamá'' with Roberto Delgado & Orquesta in 2015; it earned the

Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album The Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album is an honor presented annually by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and promotes a wider awareness of cultural diversity an ...

and the

Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album The Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for releasing albums in the tropical latin music ...

. ''Salsa Big Band'' is the second album recorded by Blades with Delgado & Orquesta. It is mainly inspired by the musical work of Puerto Rican performers

and Willie Rosario. According to Blades, "I decided to include more instruments to the arrangements, since I want to recover the

Big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

sound from the 1950s, with

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though K ...

Machito Machito (born Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, December 3, 1909 – April 15, 1984) was a Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music. Ginell, Richard S. ''Biography''. Allmusic, 2011/ref> He w ...

and

Mario Bauzá Prudencio Mario Bauzá Cárdenas (April 28, 1911 – July 11, 1993) was an Afro-Cuban jazz, Latin, and jazz musician. He was among the first to introduce Cuban music to the United States by bringing Cuban musical styles to the New York City ja ...

Repertoire and recording

''Salsa Big Band'' includes eleven tracks, nine written by Blades and two by other composers: "Apóyate en Mi Alma" by

, and "No Te Importe Saber" by

René Touzet René Touzet y Monte (September 8, 1916 in Havana, Cuba – June 15, 2003 in Miami, Florida) was a Cuban-born American composer, pianist and bandleader. Career as bandleader Living in the city of Cojimar, he learned classical piano from the ag ...

. "Arayué" was written by Blades but first released by

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

in 1989, while "El Pescador" was recorded in 1970 by Blades with the Pete Rodríguez band. "Nadie Sabe", includes biographical lyrics by Blades, and was first recorded by

Roberto Roena Roberto Roena Vázquez (January 16, 1940 – September 23, 2021) was a Puerto Rican salsa music percussionist, orchestra leader, and dancer. Roena was one of the original members of Cortijo y su combo and later with El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. ...

and the Apollo Sound in 1977. "La Marea" was recorded by Blades in 1988 and included on his album ''Antecedentes'', while "Claro Oscuro" is taken from ''Agua de Luna'' (1987) and "Lo Pasado No Perdona" from ''El Que La Hace La Paga'' (1983). "Contra La Corriente" was previously recorded by Blades and

Willie Colón William Anthony Colón Román (born April 28, 1950) is an American salsa musician and social activist. He began his career as a trombonist and also sings, writes, produces and acts. He is also involved in the politics of New York City. Colón ...

for their album '' Tras la Tormenta'' (1995). The album was recorded at the PTY Studios Panamá from January to April 2017, and was mixed by Ignacio Molino, Pablo Governatori and Roberto Delgado, and mastered by Daniel Ovie in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The songs "Claro Oscuro" and "La Marea" were recorded for this album in

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

, and "Lo Pasado No Perdona" is a

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

montuno Montuno has several meanings pertaining to Cuban music and its derivatives. Literally, ''montuno'' means 'comes from the mountain', and so ''son montuno'' may refer to the older type of son played in the mountainous rural areas of Oriente. Anot ...

. "Antadilla" is a song about the daily tasks of a fisherman that guarantees his personal and family support that way. “El Pescador" is a montuno, with a

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

solo by Wichy López. Delgado began working on the musical arrangements at the end of 2015, and went to record the album in January 2017. Delgado said of the creative process "Rubén ladesalways contributes with innovative ideas to the music that is currently being made. This time he thought that it would be a great idea to recover the sound of the big bands, which is no longer done, since it is very difficult to have such a large orchestra and travel with it, then everyone tries to record with the minimum amount of instruments." Seventeen musicians worked on the recording, in addition to the backing singers, and some musicians played two or more instruments. The producers found it necessary to hire local musicians in order to "be faithful to its original sound." Delgado said to ''CBA24N''.

Reception

Upon its release, ''Salsa Big Band'' received favorable reviews from music critics. Omar Walker of ''Salsa Power'' named the album an "excellent recording" even though the singer showed some decline in his vocals. Walker said Blades' "vision as an artist pushes him to try new sounds". For Angel Romero of ''World Music Central'', "Rubén Blades is still at the top of the salsa world", and the album is "a candidate for one of the best albums of the year". Roberto Carlos Lujan of ''Solar Latin Club'' was critical about the repertoire: "none of the versions of the songs previously recorded by Blades are enriched with innovative interpretative bets, with the exception of 'El Pescador'". The album received two nominations for the 18th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, for Album of the Year and Best Salsa Album. Blades said to ''

La Prensa ''La Prensa'' ("The Press") is a frequently used name for newspapers in the Spanish-speaking world. It may refer to: Argentina * ''La Prensa'' (Buenos Aires) * , a current publication of Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz Bolivia * ''La Prensa'' (La Paz ...

'' that he took nominations very seriously since his album ''

Siembra ''Siembra'' () is the second studio album by Panamian singer and songwritter Rubén Blades and Puerto Rican-American trombonist Willie Colón. It was released through Fania Records on 7 September 1978. It is considered the best selling salsa album ...

'' (which included his signature songs "

Pedro Navaja "Pedro Navaja" ( en, Peter Blade) is a salsa song written and performed by Rubén Blades from the 1978 collaboration with Willie Colón, '' Siembra'', about a criminal of the same name. ''Navaja'' means "knife" or "razor blade" in Spanish. Inspi ...

" and "Plástico") was overlooked, "it is not that the album lost the award, it wasn't even nominated". ''Salsa Big Band'' won both accolades, and during his acceptance speech, Blades dedicated the award to his native Panama. ''Salsa Big Band'' also won for Best Tropical Latin Album at the

Track listing

Notes *Credits adapted from the album official website.

Release history

Credits and personnel

The following credits are from ''Salsa Big Band'' album liner notes.

Roberto Delgado & Orquesta

Performance credits

*Rubén Blades; lead performer, vocals *Ricky Rodríguez; piano *Juan Carlos de León; piano *Robinson Fereira; piano *Pablo Governatori; drums

Technical credits

References

{{Authority control 2017 albums Rubén Blades albums Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album Latin Grammy Award winners for Album of the Year Latin Grammy Award for Best Salsa Album Spanish-language albums