Siembra is the 1978 Willie Colón and Rubén Blades album that includes “Pedro Navaja.”
Released by Fania on September 7, 1978, Siembra was the second collaborative studio album by Panamanian singer-songwriter Rubén Blades and Puerto Rican-American trombonist, bandleader, and producer Willie Colón. The record combines danceable salsa with socially observant storytelling, helping establish Blades as one of the genre’s most distinctive songwriters.
“Pedro Navaja” tells the darkly humorous story of a street criminal in New York City. Its narrative was inspired in part by “Mack the Knife,” which itself came from Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera. The song became one of the most recognized recordings in the salsa canon.
The other options are related to the duo’s catalogue but are different releases. Metiendo Mano! came first, in 1977, while Canciones del Solar de los Aburridos followed in 1981. Maestra Vida is another Blades project, not the album containing the original “Pedro Navaja.”