with the children population Awards and honors Pianist Luis Russell in 2003: Consider one of the most important figures in the jazz history. Musical Director for Louis Armstrong's band since 1935. Pianist Luis Russell led one of the early big bands. In 1925, he moved from New Orleans to Chicago to join Doc Cook's Orchestra and then became the pianist in King Oliver's band. When he was 17, he moved to Colon to create a band with his music. Later, he moved to New Orleans when he formed his own quartet and he met Louis Armstrong Pianist Victor Boa in 2005: He was part of the Panamanian jazz scene beginning in the late forties. His particular flavor of jazz was called "Tambo jazz". Victor Boa was born Victor Everton McRae in 1925 in “El Vaticano” a popular sector in the El Chorrrillo section of Panama City. He learned to master the keyboard quickly at age fifteen and from there he was practically self-taught. Soon he became part of the blossoming jazz scene of Panama in the late 1940s. Throughout his life, he was variously known as “The High Priest of Jazz,” “The Master of the Key Board,” and “Electric Man.” Multi-instrumentalist Mauricio Smith in 2006: Mauricio Smith was born in Panama but lived most of his life in New York City. He performed and recorded with Clark Terry, Charlie Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, Chubby Checker, Eartha Kitt, and Harry Belafonte. Smith was a member of the Saturday Night Live band and led the Latin band at the Rainbow Room for six years. He scored music for movies and wrote arrangements for Tito Puente. He has performed classical music as a flautist and soloist with the Puerto Rican Symphony and has given recitals at Avery Fisher Hall. Smith was born on 11 July 1931 in Colón, Panamá. He distinguished himself as a cyclist while he played flute in La Banda Republicana de Panamá. He attended the Conservatory of Music of Panamá and performed professionally with la Banda de Bomberos de Colón. He soon focused on folkloric Panamanian music with Leonidas Cajar. Apart from the flute, he was known to play saxophone, clarinet, piccolo, harmonica, classical guitar, bass, vibraphone, and Latin percussion. Singer Barbara Wilson in 2007: Barbara Wilson most well-known as "La Dama del Jazz" was born in 1940 in Panama. Since she was a child, she always shared her love for