Blind boy, 7, becomes jazz sensation in Bolivia

Jose Andre Montano Baina is a rising star in Bolivia's music scene. But the promising jazz musician isn't a typical rockstar; he's blind and aged just seven years old.



At the young age of four, this musical wonder picked up the drums with astonishing proficiency and quickly moved on to the piano. By age five, he had already formed a jazz trio.

If his ample musical talent, unmatched by many skilled musicians two or three times his age, wasn't already enough, the fact that Montano Baina is blind just adds to his strikingly impressive resume. Apart from being able to play any jazz song in the book with alarming ease and style, this Bolivian child prodigy has well-rounded musical taste and isn't limited to jazz. "Blues, heavy metal, tango, bolero - I like everything," said Montano Baina.


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He has already performed in some of the top venues in Bolivia, including the Legislative Palace, and with famous musicians like Bolivian rocker Glen Vargas. In many other ways, Montano Baina is just like other seven-year-old boys. "I do homework, I play music and they accompany me on the keyboard, I do math, English, gym class - everything," he said.