I will miss Ruben Vela

I remember sitting on Ruben Vela's front porch ( Mercedes, Tx). He put his giant Accordion on my lap. I could not see anything in front of me.. I put my hands on the buttons and began playing away. I was 9 years old. It is sad to lose a trailblazer such as Ruben. I especially love his style of composition. The first polka I ever heard him play was on a 78 rpm. The song was "El Oso Negro".
I have always enjoyed playing Ruben tunes and will continue to honor his music at my concerts.
Ruben was the master of simplicity even though his tunes were complex. He taught me to be patient and characterize the lyric. He would always tell me "most players do not pay attention to the lyric".
Thank you Ruben for setting the bar super high. Say hi to Tony De La Rosa and Stephen Bruton, Tata, and all the other superb musicians that are flyin' high in heaven.
Joel Guzman