The New York Times 
October 28, 1985

RUBEN BLADES'S SALSA 

By JON PARELES 

RUBEN BLADES, salsa's most literary songwriter, read
considerable symbolism into his Carnegie Hall debut
Saturday night. 

It was not his largest audience; Mr. Blades and his
seven-piece band, Seis del Solar (''six from the
tenement''), have played at Madison Square Garden and
in stadiums throughout Latin America. But Carnegie
Hall represents the mainstream United States culture
that Mr. Blades wants to reach - and he is doing so,
triumphantly, on his own terms. 

Although he is perfectly fluent in English - he just
completed a master's degree in international law at
Harvard - Mr. Blades, who was born in Panama, writes
and sings in Spanish. His music, meanwhile, is
virtually bilingual. With four percussionists, two
keyboardists and a bassist, Seis del Solar can sound
like a stripped-down salsa group, a jazz-rock band, or
both. 

When he performs to mixed crowds, Mr. Blades
summarizes his lyrics in English, although he told
Spanish-speaking listeners Saturday that he did not
plan to abandon them. He also spoke about such topics
as racism, the political roots of famine in Ethiopia,
and his amusement at the reason his song
''Decisiones'' was banned in Panama. ''I am talking so
much tonight,'' he said at one point, ''because we
don't have enough forums to express ideas.'' 

While Mr. Blades's political ideas are unmistakable,
so is his humor -and they combine in the lyrics to his
songs, which show where public and private lives
intersect. In ''La Cancion del Final del Mundo,''
about imminent nuclear destruction, he announces last
call and suggests that everyone dance. Mr. Blades sang
material from his two most recent albums, ''Buscando
America'' and ''Escenas'' - songs with narrative
verses and irresistibly catchy choruses. And he
completed his set with a guaguanco, a virtuosic
version of the street rhythms heard in barrios from
New York to San Juan. 

The Kip Hanrahan Band, which opened the concert, is
after its own ambitious American-Latin fusion, with
internationalist rhythms, introspective lyrics and
musicians from all over the map. Although its
saxophonists and percussionists were in fine form, the
sound mix muddied most of the band's subtleties.