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Pop: hot ticket
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 10, 2002
Put on your Panama hat
[Publicity photo]
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Ruben Blades
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Ruben Blades is a man of many hats: He is a Harvard-trained lawyer, film actor (Crossover Dreams, The Milagro Beanfield Wars) and since the 1970s the native Panamanian has been a highly regarded salsa singer. He's hugely popular with Latin Americans because his socially conscious lyrics deal with the real issues of the community. (When Blades collaborates with English-speaking lyricists, it's with the best: Lou Reed, Sting, Elvis Costello.)
With Blades' prominent profile and his concern for social issues, he's tried on another hat: politician. Did you know Blades was runner-up in the 1994 presidential election in Panama?
Ruben Blades performs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa. $39.50-$45. (813) 229-7827.
The soul of Joan Osborne
"What if God was one of us?" Joan Osborne queried back in 1995, scoring a huge hit with the only tune on Relish, her major label debut, that she didn't write. (One of Us was written by Eric Bazillian of the Hooters.)
Osborne got her start on the New York roots music circuit. After the splash made by Relish and a subsequent Lilith Fair tour, the 37-year-old singer took time to bask out of the limelight, helping to record gospel singer Bethenia Rouse, doing charity work for Planned Parenthood, studying with the late Qawwali master Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and guesting on other artists' records.
Osborne released Righteous Love in 2000, but no one made much of a fuss about it. Her new disc, How Sweet It Is, released last month, proves Osborne loves her soul music: it features covers of classics by Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin.
Joan Osborne performs at 8 tonight at Jannus Landing, 16 Second St. N, on Second Street between Central Avenue and First Avenue N, St. Petersburg. $15. (727) 896-2276.
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