Tiempos

Tiempos

On first hearing, Ruben Blades's Grammy-winning <I>Tiempos</I> seems far too laid-back, its soft guitars and trilling saxophones edging dangerously close to smooth jazz. Listen longer, though, and the music's backbone reveals itself in a series of supple rhythms. This is far from the ear-expanding salsa of Blades's early recordings, and even from the Anglocized rock of <I>Nothing but the Truth</I>. The angry, mournful social and political comment of that record carries over to <I>Tiempos</I>, though, with Blades decrying exclusionary immigration policies ("Puente del Mundo") and commemorating the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama ("20 de Diciembre"). His commitment to challenging listeners rings throughout. <I>--Rickey Wright</I>