Rubén Blades & Roberto Delgado y Orquesta - Salswing! (2021)

SALWSING! as an album has different purposes. One, to present the Roberto Delgado Orchestra as an outfit capable of expanding its original Panamanian roots to cover other musical genres. Another, to present my interest in exploring other vocal directions and thus eliminate the stereotype that affirms that we are conditioned to only exist artistically within specific boundaries, according to our nationality.

Perhaps the most important point is to exemplify that, as artists, we address our music to the world, not just to a specific segment of its population. The concept MIXTURA exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one.

SALSWING! promotes the possibility of changing the divisions brought on by these financial considerations, forcing creators to limit their output to one direction when producing. SALSWING! instead creates an album with songs representing not one but TWO musical genres, Salsa and Jazz, executed by the same group of players and directed to music lovers in general, not to a specific type of listeners. Understanding that some people at first may have a problem with this concept of MIXTURA, we have also created separate editions emphasizing genres: one is titled, SALSA PLUS!, presenting Afro-Cuban tunes, added with a couple of Swing examples, and the other, SWING! with Jazz songs complemented with a couple of Salsa tunes whose arrangements are very reminiscent of the swing era itself.

When people ask me what kind of a musician I am, I just stare at them. When they ask what do I play, my answer is: Music!

Tracklist
01. Paula C.
02. Pennies from Heaven
03. Mambo Gil
04. Ya no me duele
05. Watch what happens
06. Cobarde
07. Do I Hear Four?
08. Canto Niche
09. The Way You Look Tonight
10. Contrabando
11. Tambó