Live

Performer: Ruben Blades
Artist: Ralph Irizarry
Engineer: Jerry Solomon
Producer: Ruben Blades
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Ruben Blades; Angel "Papo" Vasquez, Reinaldo Jorge, Leopoldo Pineda (trombone); Oscar Hernandez (piano); Arturo Ortiz (synthesizer); Mike Vinas (bass); Robert Armeen (drums); Roger Paiz (bongos); Edwin "Eddy" Montalvo, Marc Quinones (congas); Ralph Irizarry (timbales). Recorded live at The Lonestar Roadhouse, New York, New York on October 29 & 30, 1989. One year after the release of ANTECEDENTES, Ruben Blades and his Son Del Solar played to a packed, smoky Lone Star Roadhouse in Greenwich Village, New York, and LIVE! is the electrifying result. With its characteristic emphasis on keyboards and percussion rather than horns, Son Del Solar is at its best, making Blades' lyrical masterpieces groove hard with a tropi-pop luster. At the congas sits session man Marc Quinones who, only a few years later, would introduce Latin percussion into that Southern blues rock totem, the Allman Brothers Band. The spirited rendition of "Decisiones" became a subsequent salsa club favorite, with the keen wit of its verses and fiercely catchy chorus. "El Padre Antonio" and "Buscando America" are each given long, hearty treatments, with Ruben calling out his stirring verses of Pan-American unity in epic fashion. An up-tempo "La Cancion Del Final Del Mundo" addresses the threat of nuclear war with deceptively good cheer, while 1978's "Pedro Navaja" slowly builds into a trombone-fueled anthem. Ruben's pithy banter with the audience makes the set a special treat for Spanish speakers.

Panamanian singer/songwriter Ruben Blades is a key figure in contemporary Latin music. He came to New York in the 1970s and entrenched himself in the salsa scene, writing for and performing with a number of key players, and forming a significant partnership with salsa legend Willie Colon. In the '80s, Blades's solo career took off as he set about modernizing salsa with his group Seis del Solar. Around the same time, he embarked on a successful acting career that would continue for decades. Blades's music is often strongly informed by his activist politics, a fact that became duly apparent when he ran for President of Panama in 1994.

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