one of them started with luis russell. he made a fantastic contribution with louis armstrong. they made some records. he grew up in panama until he was 17 years old. he won a lottery, actually, to come to the united states. >> hinojosa: and there's also... you were telling me this other story-- billie holiday, "strange fruit," which is the billie holiday song. >> yeah, the piano player in that recording is sonny white, actually. >> hinojosa: who's also panamanian? >> panamanian. fantastic. >> hinojosa: so you were growing up in panama, pretty humble background. >> mm-hmm. >> hinojosa: poor. >> yes. >> hinojosa: but your parents were very much involved in music, your father. >> yeah. >> hinojosa: so talk about those memories of what you were hearing in panama. what was your life in music as a young boy growing up? >> well, my father was in love with cuban pianists. actually, lino frias, he was in love with a lot of the great artists from panama. but mainly piano players. and he actually introduced me to a fantastic pianist from puerto rico called papo lucca. and my father would