Roberto talks about Rubén Blades, about salsa in Peru and about Los Grandes II, an event that will take place in San Marcos on April 15th.
Blades Bellido de Luna Díaz was 17 when he formed the Orquesta Inmensidad with a group of new musicians who lacked financial means but were full of talent and enthusiasm.
“I took this as a hobby to have fun, pay off quick debt, buy my plane ticket and play for Santos, a Brazilian soccer team. My intention was to stand outside with my ball and tell the coach to try me out or go to Germany. It was really my dream,” he comments.
Roberto Blades, artist from Panama, returns to Peru with Los Grandes II. (Photo: Lenin Thaddeus)
/ Lenin
─Have you realized your dream?
I had scholarships but I couldn’t use them because I joined the Orquesta Inmensidad and it began to garner a local following of Puerto Ricans, Panamanians, Peruvians and Miami salsa singers. We started making money, contracts came out. However, I was allowed to play in a second division team. Teófilo Cubillas was in one of those teams (Fort Lauderdale Strikers). I played against him, he played very well. But knowing I couldn’t be at Mass and the procession at the same time, I left football and never looked back.
“I came to play in a second division team. Teófilo Cubillas was in one of those teams (Fort Lauderdale Strikers). I played against him, he played very well.”
─Is it true that you also wanted to be an airline pilot, that you thought about enlisting in the United States Air Force?
That’s right, but the day I was about to sign, something happened that made me change my mind. A supervisor yelled at someone in front of me, demanding something he didn’t do. The guy took the scolding without a word. I would have yelled at him for talking to me like that. And not wanting to be abused, I put the pen down and left.
─Then came the first album “Inmensidad” that you recorded with Fania Records. How did you get the Fania to bet that you’re a group that’s just getting started?
Jerry Masucci, President of Fania, called me the day after he saw us at a show to say he wanted to hire me because he thought it was a good idea. I agreed, but on the condition that I hire the whole orchestra. I explained to him that we had our own sound, that it just didn’t sound the same. Then we all went to New York to record our first record.
“In ‘I’m not going back with you’ you could hear my innocence, my inexperience with salsa, very humbled, like I was in pain”
─A record that marked the beginning of the romantic sauce.
A record that changed the industry because it had no idea about romantic sauce. I didn’t sing like Ismael Rivera, Ismael Miranda or Cheo Feliciano, but like an 18-year-old boy. With “I’m Not Going Back With You” you could hear my innocence, my salsa inexperience, humbly, as if in pain. And the theme was an explosion, it drove everyone away, Rubén, Willy Colón… It was something new and a face that had nothing to do with the salsa stereotype. And “Alegría”, the second album, only confirmed this success. We received a gold and a platinum award.
─In “Alegría” there was “Lagrimas”, a song inspired by a painful family event.
When my parents separated. I was 17 years old when they started arguing, arguing. After living as the perfect family for so long, they would separate, and I was the only sibling of five to absorb this nuclear family breakdown. I was disappointed, the music served me as an escape, as an outlet. Recording this song I was certain that this energy stayed on the acetate, I knew this transmission of pain and disappointment would be perfectly understood by those who felt like me.
─When you started music, was it a challenge, a challenge to be the younger brother of Rubén Blades, an icon of salsa in the world?
When I started, you know that your friend Rubén hasn’t spoken to me for almost two years.
─Why?
We (Immensity Orchestra) We were a small group, in Miami, small, unknown, made up of people from the block between 19 and 24 years old. There was no Ray Barretto, no Willie Colón or Luis Ramírez. They all helped Ruben. Unlike him, I didn’t ask anyone for help. When my brother found out I was recording with Fania in New York, he called my father the day before. He told me, “I just found out that you’re coming to New York and I hope that’s not true, otherwise you won’t get a brother named Rubén.” Then he hung up, he never let me get a word in.
─What were you doing before this warning?
I called Jerry Masucci to tell him I’m not going because Ruben says I’m turning him in and I don’t want any trouble. He replied that if I don’t go, the band wouldn’t go either. His answer felt like a dagger being driven into my liver. In the end I left.
─ What happened to your brother?
He hasn’t spoken to me for almost two years. One day the phone rang, I answered it was him. He told me: “I have decided that you can talk to me now, everything is fine. When you come to New York, call me for dinner. And I did. I looked it up the day I went. He cooked steak with onions, we ate together. Then he asked me to touch what he was doing. When he heard “Lágrimas” he told me that it was the hit.
─And he wasn’t wrong.
Not at all. He’s a great musician, I really liked the way he played the guitar. He gave me my first guitar.
– Do you still have it?
I still have it, it’s saved.
─What is the biggest dream you have fulfilled?
That Emilio Estefan recruits me as a composer. He’s a genius, he had an incredible economic system with composers, arrangers, sound engineers, producers… Everything worked in one building, there were five studios with several demo rooms, it was like a laboratory. I’ve worked with the best musicians, I got the Grammy for Best Salsa Album for Encore.
─ What dream do you still have in the balance?
There’s a saying I always use on Facebook: “I love music, I hate the music business”. I understood that I much prefer to be behind the stage than in front of it. All my life I’ve struggled to learn where the money goes, how much a CD costs, how to host a concert, where the money goes, how much sound is worth, what camera to use… I wanted it always know how this works because I don’t like being robbed. I like winning, making money from art. Los Grandes II is one of those great projects I have.
“The Great II”
Roberto Klingen came to Lima to take part in “Los Grandes II”, a festival that will bring together national and international salsa icons on April 15th at the San Marcos Stadium.
“About 20 years ago we made Los Grandes I with great success with Rubén, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Eva Ayllón and this server. This new episode brings Willie Colón, Oscar D’León and Luisito Carrión back to Peru. We will also have Son Tentación, Antonio Cartagena and whenever I come, the Peruvians from the Orquesta Internacional Sabor will accompany me. Melcochita will open the show with her incredible talent. He’s a very funny Sonero, for me he’s a national treasure,” he concludes.
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Tickets for Los Grandes II are on sale at 15% with BBVA cards on Teleticket’s digital platform.