gershwin, not a bad pianist himself, would have been knocked out. ♪ ♪ ( cheers and applause ) marcusmother still lives. as a little kid, wherever there was a piano, he'd try to unlock the mystery of the keys. so his mother and his father, a longshoreman down on the jacksonville docks, scrimped and saved for that piano marcus could call his own. >> coretta roberts: he went right to it, and went to playing "mary had a little lamb." ( laughs ) >> marsalis: his mother coretta is sightless, too, blinded by glaucoma. she remembers the pain of having to leave school in the seventh grade because she couldn't see the blackboard. >> coretta roberts: it was just like i had lost a loved one or something. >> marsalis: and by the time he was five, severe cataracts blinded marcus as well. how did your parents explain your blindness to you? >> roberts: they really didn't explain it. they just taught you how to do stuff for yourself. that was the main thing. >> marsalis: marcus told me that you were never about self-pity or feeling bad about yourself. >> coretta roberts: oh, no, no. ( laughs ) i got

." >> bach, beethoven, gershwin, and a boy named j.p. we'll tell you what they all have in common coming up. too many bills? think you can't afford auto insurance? did you know there's a state program that makes it possible to get liability insurance for under 400 dollars a year? good drivers owning a vehicle valued at 20,000 or less who meet the income requirements may qualify for the state of california's low cost automobile insurance program. find out if you qualify. call 866-602-8861. do you qualify? great! what are you waiting for? call 866-602-8861. >> "speak of the week" is when we get to hear what you have to say. here's this week's question. >> here's a money question for you. if you could have a penny a day doubled every day for a month or a million dollars up front, what would you choose? >> a penny a day because i wouldn't have the temptation to spend it all in one place. >> penny doubled every day 'cause in the end you'll get more money. >> penny a day doubled every day because it all adds up in the end. >> a million dollars

." >> bach, beethoven, gershwin, and a boy named j.p. we'll tell you what they all have in common coming up. >> "speak of the week" is when we get to hear what you have to say. here's this week's question. >> here's a money question for you. if you could have a penny a day doubled every day for a month or a million dollars up front, what would you choose? >> a penny a day because i wouldn't have the temptation to spend it all in one place. >> penny doubled every day 'cause in the end you'll get more money. >> penny a day doubled every day because it all adds up in the end. >> a million dollars. >> a million dollars up front. >> actually, a penny doubled every day for a month with 31 days comes out to... [ drumroll ] [ cash register dings ] [ crowd oohs ] [ man screams ] >> um, i had a bad answer. that's what i think. >> oh, i did not know that. >> i guess it pays off to do the math. with "speak of the week," i'm eden. >> harry introduces us to a young man who not only plays music, he composes it. >> we're going to go over to the piano th