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Do You Know In Which Country Rubén Blades Start his Tour?

The United States Will Be The First Country Where The Panamanian Artist Will Present Salswing Tour!

Rubén Blades with blue hat on stage
Rubén Blades will be recognized as “Person of the Year” at the Latin Grammys on November 17th in sin city, Las Vegas (Nevada)

The multifaceted artist and political activist, Rubén Blades, announced his return to the American stage with his friend and fellow countryman Roberto Delgado & Big Band, starting next November 20th.

The Salsero icon announced the beginning of his tour through his official Facebook account: “We are very happy to be able to work and get in touch with our audience again, after almost two years without being able to do so. With the Roberto Delgado Big Band, an orchestra of 20 musicians that is sounding better, we are eager and want to share our latest album Salswing!, and the usual songs… Please, don’t stop getting vaccinated”.

There are eight cities that the living Salsa legend will visit in North America, starting on November 20th in Oakland (CA), Los Angeles (CA), Atlanta (GA), Miami (FL), passing through Boston (MA), and New York (NY) on November 28th and December 2nd respectively, and having as a special guest the extraordinary American actress, singer, and wife of Blades, Luba Manson who will be showing the repertoire of her Jazz album Triangle released in October 2020.

Rubén Blades with black hat and Luba Mason with white shirt
Rubén Blades and Luba Manson have been married since 2006

Later, Salswing Tour! & the Roberto Delgado Big Band will present their penultimate concert this year on Friday, December 3rd in Washington (DC), and will close this magnificent tour on Sunday, December 5th on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan at the mighty Arena Arie Crown Theater in Chicago (IL).

Regarding this great 2021 tour, Nelson Albareda, CEO of Loud And Live, the company in charge of carrying out this series of concerts and those of Latin stars such as Carlos Vives, Juanes, Farruko, among many others, commented: “It is an honor for us working with a Latin icon, who has inspired generations through his salsa music and long artistic career. Rubén Blades is not only a great artist but also a great ambassador, and activist for our Latin community”.

The prestigious Panamanian songwriter will show for the first time the eleven songs of his most recent album “Salswing!” title that also gives the name to the tour.

Digital album cover Salswing! in red background and yellow letters
“Music is a universal gift, and from Panama, we renew our contribution with this album, SALSWING!”. Rubén Blades

Salswing! has 11 tracks including, Mambo Gil, Cobarde, Canto Niche, and Ya No Me Duele, the latter written by Jeremy Bosch and Rubén Blades with arrangement by Tom Kubis. Salswing! was recorded in collaboration with the record’s bassist and musical producer, Roberto Delgado, and his band made up of 20 talented Panamanian musicians, and it was released on the digital market on April 15th, 2021.

“Although the connection between Jazz and Salsa has been historically documented, much remains to be described and recognized. The combinations and collaborations between musicians of these genres have been numerous over the years and include figures of the stature of Mario Bauza & Dizzy Gillespie, Machito & Charlie Parker, Luis Russell, and Louis Armstrong. With this record production, I try to continue that relationship, verifying that art does not have a nationality but rather represents a spirit that transcends races, geographies, and languages”. It is extracted from his official page.

Rubén Blades has been performing with Roberto Delgado & Bing Band for ten years in the most prestigious stages around the world. In these eight concerts, there will be a historical tour of recognition of the Latin origins of jazz as well as the influences of the son, Afro-Caribbean music, and swing. In addition to including the hits always chanted by the crowd in any corner of the planet.

  • You Can Keep Reading: Meet The Amazing Fasching Jazz Club In Sweden

Who Is Roberto Delgado?

Roberto Delgado dressed in black holding a Grammy in his hand
Roberto Delgado and his Orchestra along with Rubén Blades won a Grammy for Best Latin Tropical Album in 2018

Roberto Delgado was born in the capital of the Chiriquí province in western Panama on June 27th, 1961. This prodigious artist has developed in the musical environment as a Producer, Singer, Bassist, and Arranger.

His upward career began with his studies at the prestigious Conservatory of Music of Fine Arts in Mexico City (Mexico) and later at the Golden West College of Huntington Beach California (United States).

With more than 40 years of experience, Roberto has been a member of ten Panamanian groups counting the Salsa singer orchestra, Roberto Blades (1992) and he is currently the director of his big band made up of 20 musicians and with whom he has shared the stage since 1996 together with the master Rubén Blades.

In the enormous list of famous artists that Delgado has accompanied in productions and tours in addition to the Blades brothers are Cheo Feliciano, Celia Cruz, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Ismael Miranda, Andy Montañez, Tito Nieves, La India, Víctor Manuelle, José Alberto “El Canario”, Luigie Texidor, Maelo Ruiz, Charlie Aponte, Joan Manuel Serrat, Carlos Vives, and many more.

The conductor together with Rubén Blades has performed on the major international stages, including Madison Square Garden (New York), Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles), Shepherd’s Bush (London), Poble Espanyol de Barcelona (Spain), numerous Latin American auditoriums, and acclaimed festivals in Europe and the Caribbean.

Also, this duo has three Latin Grammys (2015, 2017) and two Grammys for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album in 2016 and 2018.

Currently, Roberto Delgado (60 years old) and Rubén Blades (73 years old) continue to transgress the barriers that will be the first Latin artists touring Salswing! in the middle of the pandemic throughout the North American territory.

An important fact to attend the Rubén Blades and Roberto Delgado & Big Band concert series in Los Angeles County is mandatory to wear masks. At the moment, mandatory vaccination in the United States only applies to public employees and workers of large companies.

  • Author
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Adriana Saez
Adriana Saez
Associated Journalist at SalsaGoogle
Adriana Saez
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About Adriana Saez

International Salsa Magazine (ISM) is a monthly publication about Salsa activities around the world, that has been publishing since 2007. It is a world network of volunteers coordinated by ISM Magazine. We are working to strengthen all the events by working together.