A cross-genre collaborator, he has worked with artists in jazz, pop, hip-hop, reggaetón, and salsa, winning 12 Grammys and 13 Latin Grammys. His Salsa Big Band (2017) earned Latin Grammy Album of the Year, and in 2021 he was named Person of the Year by Academia Latina de la Grabación.
Beyond music, Blades has a celebrated acting career, appearing in Fear the Walking Dead, Hands of Stone, Safe House, and films by Robert Redford, Spike Lee, and Robert Rodriguez. A scholar and former Panamanian presidential candidate, his work is honoured worldwide.
