Preserving the Legacy of Salsa Pioneers: Inside the Spaha Salsa Museum

A dress for the queen of Salsa. A gold record by Adalberto Santiago. The maracas of Ismael Quintana.

What was once a hardware store in the heart of El Barrio has been transformed into one of the most important collections of a genre that was born precisely in these streets.

“There are more than 300 items and for me they are all sacred, this is my sanctuary. You have, for example, Tito Puente’s tuxedo, the last tuxedo that Tito Puente wore with the PR Symphony,” explained Jonny Cruz.

For decades the space was known as Lexington Hardware and Plumbing. But hammers and nails have given way to the Spaha Salsa Museum, created and founded by musician and producer Johnny Cruz in order to preserve the legacy of the salsa pioneers.

The business had belonged to Cruz’s father, a musician who also emigrated to New York to seek a better life.

“My dad came to this country with nothing in the 60s, he worked hard, he achieved his American dream. He had 14 brothers and sisters and he brought them all to NY, my dad was a person who knew a lot about business and that is the legacy I have “Cruz added.

But when his father died everything changed. Cruz closed the business and together with businessman Hector Maisonave and Adalberto Santiago opened the museum in 2011.

“It is a pride that we have this especially in El Barrio and as long as I can continue cooperating, which I am still doing, I will be here,” said Santiago. “We’ve always had salsa… I say today’s youth should follow our legacy.”

All items found in the museum have been donated by musicians or relatives of deceased artists.

There is Frankie Ruiz’s jacket, in another corner, the bongos of José Mangual Jr., and perhaps one of the most important instruments in this gallery, the timbales of Nicky Marrero, member of the Fania All Stars.

It is a collection that, although it has a home here in East Harlem, has also traveled to other cities and even other countries to celebrate this music, its roots and its greatest exponents.

“This is the purpose, here we want to educate people to the new generations. I am doing what is called the rolling salsa museum – I go to music schools, conservatories… some kids don’t know who Tito was Puente and that is my purpose and my mission in this life,” Cruz said.

And the project continues to grow. Cruz plans to open a similar museum in San German in Puerto Rico next year and has been in talks with representatives of the Smithsonian Institution about bringing some of these items and instruments to the Museum of the American Latino in the nation’s capital.

2023-10-13 18:37:00
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