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.

Everyone comes back. It makes no difference how far we wander, we always have our country, our land, in our souls and our minds.

I was a kid, and I remember my mother singing. She was also a radio soap opera actress, but my mother sang.

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

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.

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.

So that when I came to New York again, it was, I'm not too sure right now, but it was '74 or '75. I went to Miami in '74 and then I came to New York, I think, at the end of '74.