Panamanian singer-actor Ruben Blades views Harvard archive collection, prepares for music tour

Salsa musician Ruben Blades visits Harvard archive

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Salsa musician and actor Ruben Blades celebrated his 61st birthday Thursday with a nostalgic visit to his archive collection at Harvard University.

The seven-time Grammy winner looked through photos, held his old records and chuckled at his change in physical appearance during his first visit to the archive at the school where he earned a master’s degree in international law in 1985.

“Look at those sideburns,” Blades said, looking at a photo of a show 30 years ago.

The collection is composed of donations from fans and items that the university purchased on eBay, including a vinyl copy of “From Panama to New York” and a poster of Blades promoting childhood literacy. Blades also pledged to contribute personal items and rare recordings— like a number with Michael Jackson in Spanish.

“I’m relieved,” he said, peering up from a box of magazines. “I thought it might end up in a trash can.”

Blades has been following his wife, jazz singer Luba Mason, on the last leg of her tour since June 30, when he stepped down from his position as Panama’s tourism minister after five years. He planned to perform a duet in Portuguese with Mason at her last tour stop Thursday night in Cambridge.

Blades’ trip to Cambridge signals his return to music and the end of his career in government.

“It’s a mixture of loss and also a reencounter with your affairs,” he said. “I think of Panama every day. I think of the people I was working with every day. I wonder how things are going.”

But Blades said he was looking forward to getting back to his music. He plans to tour with Seis del Solar, a legendary group of salsa musicians who are his longtime buddies, with scheduled stops in Puerto Rico and Miami later this year.

He said reggaeton — music that combines rap and Caribbean rhythms — and new Latino music reflects today’s culture just as his music draws on his generation’s perception of city life.

“It’s urban music. It is young people’s approach to their opinions to how they see society today,” he said. “Although we are in different moments in terms of our ages, we are all sharing the same space.”

Blades is known for his socially conscious salsa music and his work in a slew of films, including “The Milagro Beanfield War” and “The Devil’s Own.” He also ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Panama presidency in 1994.

“It’ll take a while for me to adjust again to my other interests,” he said. “Right now, I need to work and continue my work as a musician, as an artist.”