00:00Luckily for me that my mom, even in Cuba, had a very extensive record collection of not just Celia Cruz,
00:07Cachao, Olga Guillo, the big stars of the Cuban scene.
00:12And Celia will always be my queen, both musically and personally.
00:16She was one of the most amazing human beings I've ever met.
00:20She was humble.
00:21She was the consummate professional.
00:23So she was a big influence on me early on.
00:26But my mom also had Nat King Cole, Andy Williams, Dean Martin, the crooners of that age.
00:32So that was also part of my musical upbringing.
00:35My mom would try to make it a happy household.
00:37So she would play the records and dance and sing for me.
00:41And she would have me sing for her and all the other ladies.
00:44And the more we were away from Cuba, the more important my mom felt it was to keep that culture
00:51alive,
00:51to keep me knowing fully well where we came from, who we are, our music, our food.
00:57And I think it's helped me.
00:59I think it's made me more well-rounded.
01:00It's certainly made for the ability to do songs like Conga.
01:05Of course.
01:05And Rhythm is Gonna Get You and all the other songs that people have heard.
01:08So, yes, it's still...
01:09And we have passed it on to our kids.
01:11Both my children, Emily and Naive, speak perfect Spanish.
01:15My grandson speaks perfect Spanish, English and Italian.
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