Willie Colón and Rubén Blades

Willie Colón and Rubén Blades were the pioneers of what became known as “conscious salsa.” Their penultimate collaboration for Fania, the Grammy-nominated Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos, did not receive much air play in New York at the time of its release. This was largely due to deejays shying away from the opening cut “Tiburón” (literally meaning “Shark”; figuratively meaning “Imperialism”), arguably the duo’s most contentious recording commenting on U.S./Latin American policy. Composed by Blades, as were all but two of the tracks on the album, the song led to accusations that he was a communist sympathizer and effectively alienated him from the Cuban community in Miami. Reflecting on his early days of performing “conscious salsa” with Blades, Colón said in 1991: “that type of composition caused us a lot of trouble, so much so that at one point when we were doing “Pedro Navaja” and “Tiburón” with Blades, we had to perform in bulletproof vests.” “Te Están Buscando” tells a somewhat humorous everyday barrio story about a wary gambler dodging loan sharks literally baying for his blood. Conguero Milton Cardona, who joined Colón’s band in the early 1970’s, takes an awesome solo and trombone and violin player Louie Kahn, a stalwart of the Larry Harlow organization, and contributes charanga-style violin riffing to the all-trombone sound. #Fania #FaniaRecords #WillieColon #RubenBlades #Salsa https://found.ee/willie-ruben-canciones-del-solar-de-los-aburridos-pivot