Tag Archives: Ruben Blades

WEEK 49 / 29 MAY – 4 JUNE 2015

Posted on by

337 FRIDAY 29 MAY 2015

Just Once – James Ingram

From Q, With Love

This entry seems to come out of the left field. I never thought I would include a track in this style. However, I was cyber shopping in iTunes one evening, trying to see if I could recognise any song from the past, when Just Once jumped at me. It just brought such good memories of a time when I was leaving my childhood and I was entering my young adult years.

Additionally, at 16, and I’m about to toot my own horn, I was able to hit the same notes that James Ingram did on the song. At this age, I was already showing signs of disregard for any form of pop music and Just Once was one of the few I knew. Whenever people talked about new music, I was clueless for the most part. So, I created a little routine for those instances.

Continue reading →

WEEK 22 – 21 TO 27 NOVEMBER 2014

Posted on by

148 FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2014

Shall We Dance? – Gotan Project – Top 10 Contender

Shall We Dance_ (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)

Just like cricket, ballroom dancing is one of those pastimes that I have never fully understood. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they do seem like fun activities, at least ballroom does. But I don’t see the point of both being taken so seriously, lest being professional disciplines with championships and world cups. However, I’m a sucker for movies where ordinary people get their moment to shine under the spotlight of such pastimes. That is why I’ve liked movies such as 1991’s “Stepping Out”, and 2004’s “Shall We Dance?”. In the former, La Minnelli teaches a group of misfits to tap so they get to excel in a dance recital. In the latter, La Lopez coaches another group of everyday people for a ballroom competition.

Continue reading →

WEEK 05 – 25 JULY to 31 JULY 2014

Posted on by

29 FRIDAY 25 JULY 2014

El Padre Antonio y Su Monaguillo Andrés – Rubén Blades – Top 10 Contender

029 The Cali Sessions

Although I grew up in Latin America, you may have noticed that my music taste gravitates towards Broadway musicals primarily. There are only a handful of songs in Spanish in my iTunes library, so if you see one of them on the list, you’ll know that it must be a song close to my heart. Such is the case of this beautiful gem from Panamanian Rubén Blades.

El Padre Antonio y Su Monaguillo Andrés (Father Antonio And His Altar Boy Andrés) is a ballad/salsa inspired by the assassination of El Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980. It tells the story of Father Antonio Tejeira, a Catholic priest from Spain and his altar boy Andrés Eloy Pérez.

Father Antonio is a pacifist; he condemns violence, and in every sermon, he talks about love and justice. Andrés is a ten-year-old who loves swimming in the river, playing soccer and day-dreaming. One Sunday mass, during communion, an assassin enters the Church and opens fire right in the middle of the Lord’s Prayer. Father Antonio falls to the ground not knowing what is happening; a host is still in his hand. Andrés passes away next to him. On the wall, the wooden Christ on the crucifix dies again.

Continue reading →