I have a couple of sunny weather tunes for you all today. The first is Ben’s choice, (although I love it too.) Originally by Randy Newman who sums up the city of Baltimore, Maryland on this song from his 1977 album Little Criminals. It is a lesser played song from Nina Simone – Baltimore from 1978 and it became the title track of her Baltimore album.
My choice is Soul Drummers - Ray Barretto. Barretto became better known after releasing the album Acid in 1967 where today’s choice originally appeared. The album combined the sounds of Latin, funk and soul music and included the influential tracks “A Deeper Shade of Soul,” “Teacher of Love” and “El Nuevo Barretto.” Barretto established himself as one of the leading players in Salsa music.