ST PAUL, Minn. — On Saturday evening, Nachito Herrera's world-renowned Cuban jazz music will fill the Halls of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, and he'll have a Hall-of-Fame fan cheering him on.
"He's numero uno," said Tony Oliva, the former Minnesota Twins outfielder who was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.
Oliva was already a Twins legend by the time he first heard Herrera play in Minnesota 20 years ago, but even then, game recognized game.
"When I met him, he was a superstar," Oliva said.
He's not exaggerating.
Herrera, who rose to fame in his native Cuba at the age of 12, began touring the world as a teenager and was already an acclaimed pianist by the time he landed in Minnesota in 2001 to serve as musical director and orchestra conductor for a play at St. Paul's History Theater.
Despite all of that early success, Herrera says he soon found himself feeling isolated.
"You feel alone because you don't have your family; you don't speak the language. When I decided to establish myself in 2001, I didn't speak English at all," Herrera said.
It's a feeling Oliva knew all too well. Despite becoming an instant star on the field after signing with the Twins in 1961, he spent years isolated from his family, friends and country.
"I was by myself," Oliva said. "It's a very tough time when you come here from a different country, and you come, especially to Minnesota, because there weren't many Spanish speakers and I didn't speak one word of English."
Maybe that's why, from the day they first met, they haven't stopped talking.
"That first day, we decided to have lunch in a restaurant," Herrera said. "And that restaurant pretty much had to call the cops, the police, to kick us out of there, because it was about 6 p.m. and we were still talking in the restaurant."
Though separated in age by some 30 years, they have cheered each other on ever since, and as their roots — and families — in Minnesota have grown, so has their bond.
Herrera: "We are like family right now. It is impossible for us to spend a week or two weeks without giving a call and making a plan to get together."
Erdahl: "You are both world-class players. You could have settled anywhere. Why Minnesota?"
Oliva: "When you get here to Minnesota, it's different. It's a privilege. It's a privilege to live here."
Herrera: "Why not Minnesota?"
Oliva: "The weather was bad, but the people was very warm."
Herrera: "That is true. That warm friendship from Minnesotans gave me the possibility of forgetting about, in a funny way, how cold Minnesota gets in the wintertime."
And as a thank you for all of the opportunities they realized here, they have both taken every opportunity to share the warmth of their native Cuba with all of us.
Herrera's upcoming show is just the latest example. He will take the Ordway stage with the Havana Jazz All Stars to perform a special concert called "Cuba Live!"
"My people deserve respect, and so how I keep respecting my people is to try to be a better person, to try to represent that country that gave you a lot when you needed," Herrera said. "That's exactly why, any single time I go anywhere in the world, I just take that very serious. Don't forget where you come from."
If you're interested in joining Tony Oliva and the rest of Herrera's fans for "Cuba Live" tickets are still available through the Ordway website.
Watch more Breaking The News:
Watch all of the latest stories from Breaking The News in our YouTube playlist: