In 2013, at the great salsa festival “Salsa al Parque” in the city of Bogotá, I had the privilege of listening to one of the most emblematic salsa legends of all times, Rubén Blades. He is synonymous with passion, feeling, catchy sound, smart lyrics and commitment to the musical community and society. After the break-up of Blades and Seis del Solar, thousands of fans wondered when and how Rubén would make a comeback to the stage with other musical bands. Seis del Solar has been considered a gem in the industry for its contribution to the evolution not only of salsa but also to Latin jazz. This group was part of the particular and unique sound Blades created, a stamp that distinguished them among dozens of musical projects around the world. But life continues, the magical world of music continues too so a genius like Rubén continues contributing his talent to the world scene. The first thought that came to my mind that day as I watched Rubén Blades was “What an orchestra Blades has!”, answering any of the doubts that many of us had for years when Ruben stopped his career to work as Minister of Tourism in his beloved Panama.

Followers were not disappointed by the Panamanian singer-songwriter because his comeback was warranted in terms of music. Mr. Blades entrusted his arrangements and instrumental accompaniment to one of his compatriots, Roberto Delgado, a talented bass player, singer and composer who studied at Conservatorio de Musica de Bellas Artes in Mexico and the Golden West College of Huntington Beach, California. From the time he was a young musician, Mr. Delgado has created several musical projects including Grupo Alma Joven (1973), Orquesta Fantasía (1978), Grupo Experimental de Latin Jazz (1985), Orquesta de Pedro Azael (1986), Grupo Kristal (1988), Grupo Fiebre (1989), Cutito Larrinaga (1991) and Orquesta Cimarrón (1993) among others. He has also worked with great figures in the world of Latin music like Cheo Feliciano, Luis Perico Ortiz, Ismael Miranda, Tito Nieves, Yolanda Rivera, Angel Canales, José Alberto el Canario just to mention a few.

Son de Panamá is the new work of Rubén Blades, as usual, this album is full of profound lyrics where the listener can appreciate poetry and commitment as Blades has shown during his career as a composer and singer. In this project some themes from previous albums have been included like “Las calles” (The Streets), “Ojos de perro azul” (Blue Dog’s Eyes), “Vino añejo” (Matured Wine), and “La Caína”. Great songs that Blades and Delgado’s orchestra bring again with great energy and pure mastery in musical interpretation. The perfect example is the mythical “Ojos the perro azul”, a piece recorded in the album Agua de Luna (Moon Water) with the band Seis del Solar: in this song, the basic arrangement of Oscar Hernández is kept but Mr. Delgado proposes a version where the brass takes a leading role enhancing the sound of this unforgettable theme. Another song to mention is the beautiful interpretation of the “Vino añejo”, a melody included in La Rosa de los Vientos and composed by the Panamanian Roberto Cedeño. Delgado and his orchestra reinvigorate this classic with catchy vibraphone lines, powerful brass sessions and an unparalleled team of singers that enhances the entire piece, giving the listener a new and renovated sound that goes perfectly with the tremendous feeling that Rubén Blades put into it.

From other composers, Blades recorded some themes for the first time including the bolero “Me recordarás” composed by the Cuban Frank Domínguez, and three songs written by Panamanian composers; “Otra canción de amor” (Rómulo Castro), “Teresa Batista” (José Calderón), and “Perdón” (Omar Alfanno). To match the title of this work, several songs on this new album, created by Panamanians, were included as a way to pay tribute to the music of Blades’land.

Creativity is part of Mr. Blades’life. This album could not be recorded without some original compositions by this legend. “Caín”, “Parrhesia”, “Olaya”, and “En esa casa” (In that house) are the new songs on Son de Panamá. Of these four new pieces, three of them are about the typical and profound ideas about life and society that Rubén discusses in their interpretations: “Caín” talks about how to make amends after doing bad things to others based on the biblical story of Caín and Abel. “Vive el arrepentimiento” (feel regret) is a moving phrase that has the ability to evoke tears and reflection, this phrase makes the listener vitally move while they cry the reflection. “Parrhesia” could be identified as the masterpiece of this album, a sincere composition where Mr. Blades reflects on the contradictions of human beings with respect to the political decisions made by the “richest” and most “powerful” countries over other nations. Fascinating and smart lyrics are the poetic framework of Son de Panamá, an exquisite musical project which has the stamp of the committed, brave and brilliant Ruben Blades.

Track List – Las calles; Caín; Ojos de perro azul; Vino añejo; Parrhesia; Me recordarás; Olaya; La Caína; Otra canción de amor; En esa casa; Teresa Batista; El perdón; La caína.

Personnel – Roberto Delgado: bass and voice; Luis Enrique Becerra: keyboards; Juan Carlos “Wichy” López: trumpet; Francisco Delvecchio: trombons; Carlos Pérez Bidó: timbales; Juan Berna: piano; Marcos Barraza: congas; Raúl “Toto” Rivera: bongó, campana, güiro and maracas; Ademir Berrocal: drums; Carlos Ubarte: sax baritone.

Guests – Eduardo Pineda: piano; José Ramón Guerra: congas; Mayito Travieso: tres; Medoro Madera: voice.

Released – 2015
Label – Rubén Blades Productions
Runtime – 63:00

Not only is every track on this CD “perfection” but each proclaims artists of exceptional calibre, establishing their positions as important players of Cuban classics. And without doubt they are a quite wonderful clarinetist and a string quartet in their prime, with a thrust and command of brilliance and musical energy that are controlled by vivacious personalities. Listening to them in pieces which articulate their journey from the beloved Cuba, you sense all over again, how obviously this music comes from the heart and how what is expressed is indissolubly linked to its technical execution, both for the clarinetist as well as for Quinteto Cimarrón; the one illuminated the other. Characteristic of D’Rivera, and the string Quintet everywhere is an ineluctable forward movement, a thrust and passion for what is to come, in the light of what we are hearing now and what we’ve heard a moment ago. The freshness and directness are delightful, the virtuosity often breathtaking, but their control is as much musical as it is technical. Truly exciting interpreters, they are able to make you feel how the total structure of a classical Cuban piece, not just the surface, has an audible power.

You may notice small lapses in acuteness of perfectly judged expression—I think very few—but the dynamic life of the music is always there, together with a concern for its character and the achievement and articulation of the larger shapes. You hear music unleashed from the instruments of Paquito D’Rivera and Quinteto Cimarrón as if from a coiled spring, and as exciting as I’ve ever encountered it. The clarinetist excels in such inspirations and there are numerous examples throughout this repertoire especially in “Introducción y Guajira…” a particularly balletic piece, thrown off with exceptional grace. By the time you reach such moments you have come to cherish each player’s immaculate rhythm and strict timekeeping, which has nothing to do with swallowing a metronome. Playing a tempo with this degree of élan and finish derives from a discipline that Paquito D’Rivera may have learnt to adhere to in his days of studying in the conservatoire in Cuba. The music on this disc is a rousing success; with “Longina” and “La Comparsa” ranking as notable additions to this distinguished discography.

I mentioned small lapses in the acuteness of expression. You don’t identify them by comparing this group to any other. Paquito D’Rivera and Quinteto Cimarrón are a group like none other. And their brilliance is palpable. Their playing is deeply romantic; almost heroic in their ability to convey the joyful fingerprint of Cuba, no doubt with a large dose of nostalgia. But this might be so because all of the musicians are expatriates in either Spain or the United States of America. In sum my impressions of Paquito D’Rivera and Quinteto Cimarrón are of their selfless concentration, understanding and boundless musical energy and in everything offered their command of timing and of the glorious variety and drama of these compositions, I retain too a sense that their space and reach have been encompassed.

Track List – Alborada y son; Wapango; Habanera; Afro; Contradanza; Martica; Tamborichelo III: La Cubana; Longina; Notas de la Habana; Introducción y Guajira – 2nd movement, work for clarinet and string quartet; Al fin te vi; Zumolandia; A la 1830; Isora club; La Rity; Doña Vainilla; La Comparsa.

Personnel – Paquito D’Rivera: clarinet and saxophone; Eduardo Coma: 1st violin; Lázaro W. González Peña: 2nd violin; Raymond Arteaga: viola; Luis Caballero: cello; Oscar Rodríguez: contrabass.

Released – 2015
Label – Sunnyside Records
Runtime – 1:03:05

It is apocryphal that you can take the Colombian out of the Cumbia, but you can never take the Cumbia out of the Colombian. Thus the now-Austrian-based Colombian bassist Juan García-Herreros has been endowed with the infinite beauty of Colombian rhythms even as he bends and stretches these and melding them with the swirling and swaggering Afro-Caribbean rhythms, and further, with the exciting elasticity of jazz. Mr. García-Herreros’ music has a leaping quality to it; not unlike a gazelle, intoxicated with the smell of spring rain. He does not give the impression of being in a hurry himself, but rather lays the foundation for enriching the complexity of the music. Of course Mr. García-Herreros is also a sublime rhythmist, fed on a heady mix of Colombian—indeed all Latin American music, including Afro-Caribbean as well as folkloric traipsing in the dancing figures he creates on his considerably enhanced bass guitar. The music on Normas rings with such a fanciful and a rigorous adherence to the paths that bring about the changes and contemporaneity to the music, which is established by a culture of sound.

Much of this is recorded in “Huellas,” a chart that means “footprints” begins to trace a fabulous path through the jungle, awake with bird calls and the rustle of spring, announced by the wind rushing through the leaves. The majesty of the music is further established by the bright and resonant notes hammered out on the balafon by Mamadou Diabate. Brass and woodwinds add a certain softness and voluptuous texture to the harmonic tapestry, further supported by the strings of the 12-string guitar. All this as Mr. García-Herreros cuts a swathe through the melody and builds up the piece until an uncredited synthesizer masquerading as a pipe-organ takes over to build on the musical magisterium. This is a perfect introduction to the propulsive nature of “Impulso Interno,” where that other magician from Colombia, Héctor Martignon plays in counterpoint with the guitarist, Conrad Schrenk. The triangulated contrapuntal harmonics are established almost as soon as Juan García-Herreros enters the music roaring on his bass guitar.

It might seem that pianist Héctor Martignon does not have the kind of role that enables him to make his customary stellar presence felt, but then along comes “Cuerpo Y Alma,” a deeply moving song that is made so by the ponderous bass clarinet of Klaus Dickbauer and Mr. Martignon soon joins in the fracas fulfilling his potential as one of the most poignant players of that grand instrument. He is also omnipresent on “Som I Serem.” This is probably one of the most breathtaking compositions among all of the music on this album, due in no small part to Mr. Dickbauer and Mr. Martignon. Other contributions come in the form of conguero, Roberto Quintero, whose energy is infectious. The West African contingent in the form of percussionists Djakali Kone and Mamadou Diabate also bring much musicality in the colours they employ via their various instruments. But in the end it is the Snow Owl, Juan García-Herreros and his ubiquitous bass guitar that makes the melodies more breathtaking, the harmonies more texturally exquisite and the rhythmic energy more powerful throughout this rather beautiful album.

Track list – Señor C.P.; Huellas; Impulso Interno; Cuerpo Y Alma; Som I Serem; Touched; Hearts of Ether.

Personnel – Juan García-Herreros: electric contrabass guitar; Jonathan Powell: trumpet (1, 2, 3, 6, 7); Héctor Martignon: piano; Conrad Schrenk: electric guitar (3); Klaus Dickbauer: bass clarinet (4); Abdoulaye Dembele: percussion (2); Djakali Kone: percussion (2); Mamadou Diabate: balafon, percussion (2); Roberto Quintero: percussion (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7); Alexander Wladigeroff: trumpet, flugelhorn; Daniel Mesquita: 12-string guitar (2); Stoyan Yankoulov: drums; Jeremy Powell: tenor saxophone.

Released – 2013
Record Label – Inner Circle Music
Runtime – 1:03:00

_{Playlist – Juan García-Herreros – Snow Owl: Normas}