Happy Record Store Day

Today has been deemed Record Store Day- http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home In honor of Indie record stores I thought I'd talk about my favorite record store that opened up the world of Latin music to me many years ago. I was living in New york City on E. 12th st and was spending quite a bit of time on 14th street which at the time had a lot of Bodegas, and Latin influenced stores where the sounds of Spanish being spoken, and joyous sounds of Latin music along with the noise of traffic on a busy cross town street were a constant pulsating backdrop to; dress shops offering cheap colorful clothing, gadget shops, camera stores, and audio equipment stores, drug stores, and more. People walked differently around there. There was more zip in their step, song in their walk, and attitude in their expressions. I would use the subway station at Union Square Station a lot. It was there, in a store underground in the subway station, literally a hole in the wall, Latin music store, where my love for Latin music blossomed. I had always loved and listened to Latin music on the local radio stations in the New York City area. I loved the pounding spirit of life and upbeat rhythms in the music. One day I wandered into the subway station music store and asked the salesman what music he would recommend if I wanted to hear some of the best Latin music. I still have a few of his recommends. He gave me handfuls of Celia Cruz, Ray Baretto and Tito Puente, Mongo Santa maria,recordings etc.., as well as others, but since I was young and on a limited budget I walked out with mostly Celia Cruz and Ray Barretto. It has remained my favorite music ever since as well as opening up a whole new world to me. So thank you whoever you were in the record store in the subway station for giving me my Latin music education. It just so happens that my Mexican American mother in law also loved the music of the Cuban genius, Celia Cruz. How often does talent span generations like that? I am posting some videos for you to see why we both loved Celia Cruz. The second video also features the genius of Ray Barretto a Puerto Rican American