Ruben Blades - Mundo (2002)

Ruben Blades has long been a Latin music superstar, though this album confirms suspicions he may be feeling constrained by the expectations of the genre. While others have tried their hand at the transcultural "world music" soufflé Blades masterfully whips up here, few have achieved the inviting, warm results the Panamanian vet delivers on Mundo. But Blades wisely never loses sight that however far his musical curiosity takes him, he can still only filter the results through the prism of his own experience and traditions. Thus, there's an elegantly deceptive sense of the organic here, whether covering the Pat Metheny/Lyle Mays anthem "First Circle" (which showcases Brazil's Boca Livre and Costa Rica's Editus) or the traditional "Danny Boy" (which seamlessly fuses Celtic and Afro-Cuban influences with help from Lupa Mason and her soaring soprano). Blades also pays tribute to Brazilian songwriter Gilberto Gil with the glorious harmonies of "Consideración" (a passionate reworking of Gil's "Oriente") and infuses the Malian traditional "Jiri Son Bali" with mambo rhythms. But the album's most subtle cocktails issue from Blades' originals, from the gypsy homages "Parao" and "Bochinches" (the latter fueled by savory, Havana-meets-Tangier flourishes) to the reflective, jazzy "Ella" and "La Ruta," and the joyous Uilleann pipe-tinged "Sebastian" and the romping "A San Patricio." These are tracks illuminated by Blades' passionate humanism, a compelling musical argument that our cultural differences should only be the seasoning for our common dreams. -Jerry McCulley