Mariachi on the 6

And now, my first pictures of the new year. :-)

Mariachi bands are becoming as ubiquitous on the streets and subways (but particularly the subways) of New York as Andean folk singers were in years past (which may explain the Peruvian touches on Paul Simon's first solo album). This trio just showed up out of nowhere and began playing. They were pretty good.

Showing up on a train and playing unexpectedly ssems to be the modus operandi of Manhattan's Mexican music makers (note the alliteration!), and they certainly got a good deal of attention as much with their instruments as with their lively music.

I mean, how does that acoustic bass player carry that thing around? :-D

This picture and the one that comes after it were taken on the 6 train on the Lexington Avenue line. (Don't call it the Green Line, even though it's marked in green on the map. New Yorkers don't want to have their subway lines referred to by their map colors - too Bostonian!)