Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
Hyde Park Jazz Fest on Chicago’s South Side to Present 20th Edition
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
Rubén Blades makes music beyond genres with Salswing!
(Photo: José Rovira)Rubén Blades, the Panamanian-born singer, actor and activist, continues his love of big band Latin jazz and salsa with the release of Salswing! (Rubén Blades Productions), his latest release with the Roberto Delgado Orquesta.
In a letter to listeners, Blades wrote that his goals with the recording were to introduce Roberto Delgado and his orchestra to a wider audience, noting that the band was “capable of expanding its original Panamanian roots to cover other musical genres.”
Another goal, Blades said, was “to present my interest in exploring other vocal directions, and thus eliminate the stereotype that affirms that we are conditioned to only exist artistically within specific boundaries, according to our nationality.”
The album will be available in three versions. Salswing!, which dropped Friday, April 16, offers a true “mixtura” of salsa and jazz. Salsa Plus!, a more salsa-driven version presenting Afro-Cuban tunes with a few swing cuts, will be released April 23. Swing!, a jazz version of the set with a few salsa cuts, launches April 30.
“Perhaps the most important point is to exemplify that, as artists, we address our music to the world, not just to a specific segment of the population,” Blades told fans. “The concept ‘mixtura’ exposes the hope that people will accept music, no matter what the genre is, provided it is done with quality and professionalism. All of the albums today limit themselves to a specific musical direction, to fill a specific market niche. It is an economic imperative, not an artistic one.”
He went on to say that Salswing! delivers music from two genres that could appeal to wide variety of listeners.
“Understanding that some people, at first, may have a problem with this concept of ‘mixtura,’ we have also created separate editions emphasizing genres,” he said.
“When people ask me what kind of musician I am, I just stare at them,” he concluded. “When they ask me what do I play, my answer is: ‘Music!’” DB
A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.
Sep 22, 2026 12:26 PM
The Hyde Park Jazz Festival will take place for the 20th time on the final weekend of September 2026. Beginning half…
“It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”
Sep 22, 2026 1:39 PM
Editor’s Note: Tomorrow, Sept. 23, is the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth. In honor of the tenor and…
Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.
Oct 6, 2026 1:33 PM
As emcee Mark Ruffin noted at the commencement of an epic tribute to saxophonist Sonny Rollins at the Cathedral of…
Record producer Bob Thiele’s classic photo that became the cover of John Coltrane’s landmark album A Love Supreme.
Sep 22, 2026 1:36 PM
A tribute to John Coltrane is one thing, but there is much more to the iconic saxophonist’s 100th anniversary…
Ravi Coltrane (right) makes a point during a live Blindfold Test at the Umbria Jazz Festival while pianist Greg Burk (far left), journalist Ashley Kahn and trumpeter Terence Blanchard listen.
Oct 20, 2026 12:53 PM
The pairing of Terence Blanchard and Ravi Coltrane was billed as “The Miles/Coltrane Legacy,” a tour celebrating…
