Old Salsa Music Still Good Today

Ruben Blades said in a recent interview that he doesn’t believe in the “golden years” of Salsa music. As a musician he “will not stay anchored in nostalgia”.

Ruben wants to move forward and create new things. I emphasize with Ruben Blades’ point of view and his need as an artist to do new things, but I also believe in the “golden years” of Salsa music.

Ruben makes a good point. Everything has its time, and the ’70’s and ’80’s where the boom years for Salsa music, mostly due to the vision of Jerry Masucci and his Fania record label. But Blades doesn’t like the term “golden years” because it means nothing we do now can beat that Salsa music of the past. That would mean to surrender one’s hope of being able to make better music. I agree!

Yet, I do believe in the Salsa “golden years”. Yes, it was a style of Salsa music that was great for that time period. The commercial boom Fania created enabled a variety of bands with various styles and talents, to produce recording and play live. The situation today is much gloomier.

Room for Salsa Dura and Salsa Nueva

Ruben Blades makes his point from an artist’s perspective. No artist, actually no person should accept the possibility that they cannot make something better than what they have already done. But musically speaking, Salsa is a matter of style, and the old style of Salsa, the “Salsa Dura”, still has many fans.

Ruben Blades just teamed with Cheo Feliciano to provide those “Salsa Dura” fans some of that flavor with their new album “Eba Say Aja”, a collection of old classics where Ruben sings Cheo’s hits and vice versa. Many other bands have come out to satisfy the “Salsa Dura” fans.

The Spanish Harlem Orchestra was one of the 1st with the comeback Salsa style. Since then, we’ve had many more, like the Mambo Legends Orchestra, La Excelencia, Tromboranga (in Europe) and recently Ralph Irizarry formed “Los Viejos de la Salsa”.

I love the creativity of artists that create new things. Ruben Blades’ concept album “Cantares del Subdesarrollo” with new lyrical proposals in the old Cuban “son” style, Gilberto Santa Rosa’s salsa albums, where he continues to evolve the genre in a mix of the old and the new. I like the musical diversity Jose Lugo brings to Guasabara and what Luis Enrique has been doing in his last 2 albums. There are many artists that are experimenting with new styles and stretching Salsa into new frontiers.

Ruben Blades makes a good point when he says he doesn’t want to “stay anchored in nostalgia”. Artists in particular en people in general should continue to evolve and progress. There is nothing bad with satisfying those that like the old “Salsa Dura”. Ruben just did it with Cheo Feliciano in “Eba Say Aja”, and many other bands continue to do so as well, even when providing a modern sound to the old music. I’m glad there is enough room for all.

You can read Ruben Blades interview HERE.