Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Music
While Panamanians have an inordinate degree of affection for '80s rock,
there is far more diversity happening in this small country. It helps to have a
population of many cultures. From West Indies calypso music to jazz, salsa,
reggaetón and rock 'n' roll, music is always drifting out of taxis and flat win-
dows and into your experience.
For the lowdown on the Panamanian music scene as well as a guide to its most famous
and greatest, take a look at the Music of Panama section of www.panama1.com .
Salsa
With blaring brass horns, the swish of skirts and pulsing rhythms, salsa music is like the
very air one breathes in the Latin Caribbean. And Panama is home to the biggest icon of
them all.
Renowned salsa singer Rubén Blades is a prominent international figure. Raised in
Panama City, Blades has had several international hits, appeared in a few motion pictures
and once even ran for president - he finished third.
Salsa has traditionally been the most popular music in Panama, but live salsa has be-
come harder to come by, given the current popularity of reggaetón (known here as plena ).
El Salsero: Rubén Blades
Salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor and politician Rubén Blades was born on July 16,
1948, and raised in a middle-class neighborhood in Panama City. As a songwriter, Blades
is revered for bringing lyrical sophistication to salsa and creating intelligent dance music.
His 1978 hit 'Pedro Navaja' still remains the biggest-selling single in salsa history. Today
his music continues to be incredibly popular in Panama, throughout Latin America and the
West. After a failed attempt at the Panamanian presidency in 1994, Blades later served as
the Minister of Tourism under President Martín Torrijos.
A case study in Panamanian versatility, Blades also personifies the love-hate relation-
ship between Panama and the US. Blades inherited musical talent from his mother, a
Cuban immigrant who played the piano and sang on the radio, and his father, a police de-
tective who played the bongos. Inspired by doo-wop singing, Blades began singing North
American music in his early teens. However, the political upheaval in Panama during the
 
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