So that in 1974, when I graduated as a lawyer, I figured I'm not going to be a lawyer under a military regime.

And, he'd seen me in Panama, and he talked about maybe doing something in New York so I hooked it up when I came here and I recorded in 1969 my first album with Pete Rodriguez.

I think in New York we had respect and we would pretty much fill up the places where we went, but I never got the sense that we really were Number 1 here in New York among the Latin crowds.

People are a lot smarter than anyone gives them credit for being.

Anywhere you had a commerce center, you had a lot of music.

There was a lot of stuff happening in Havana that was being heard and appreciated by New Orleans musicians because of this situation. And vice versa.

And music was a very important part of our lives. The radio was on all day.