(♪♪♪) - (female narrator) Percussionist Vanderlei Pereira left his native Brazil to try his luck in New York.

- I don't have vision to see the world, but I have a vision for rhythm.

- And singer Kessy Mac Queen came from the islan of St. Lucia to conquer Europe.

- (dubbed): I believe that the heart perceives what the eyes cannot see.

- This is a success story about two talented and endearing musicians who went the extra mile to chase their dreams.

Blind or partially-sighted, the musicians featured in this series are living out their musical dreams.

Their stories are examples of hard work, dedication and passion that let us al share in the wonder of truly... New York, the city that never sleeps - a megalopolis teeming with life where you can find just about anything you need in any given two block stretch.

A city that's larger than life, where any dream is possible if you're willing to throw your back out trying.

Vanderlei Pereira decided to move here from Brazil in 1988, partly because he was in love with an American singer, but also to pursue his dreams of making it in the Big Apple.

He rapidly became a top-tier percussionist on New York's Brazilian jazz scene.

- You see this rhythm everywhere, you know?

Before you're born, this rhythm of your heart.

Rhythm when you breathe, when you exhale and inhale.

There's rhythm when you walk.

There's rhythm everywhere.

- In a rehearsal studio located at the heart of Times Square, Vanderlei sets up his kit to offer us a little demonstration of his know-how.

- I'm a musician, I'm a drummer.

And Icame from a small city in the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil called Macaé.

(♪♪♪) My first memory of music, you know, it came from when my brother decided to take me to one of his performance and there was a drummer playing there.

And then, my brother took me there and he saw that Iwas quiet in a corner with big eyes, looking to the guy playing drums.

He played with sticks, he played with brushes.

Getting all of those sounds.

Iwas there, quiet, looking at the human playing.

And then, all of sudden, Igot struck by a light.

Imean, this is what Iwant to do for my life.

(♪♪♪) At the beginning, with the drum set, it was thoroughly self-taught.

Just watching people playing drums on the TV and watching all the drummers play alone, Iself-taught.

My brother, he told me also: "Look, you have a talent for drumming, "but playing the drum set, you're still not a musician.

"So, in order to be a musician, you have to know music.

"You have to know about melody, about harmony, "not only just rhythm."

So, pretty soon, I've followed their steps and went to one of the city's musical institution where Icould learn for free.

By the time Iwas 16 years old, Icould read music for snare, for drums.

You know, that was very helpful that Igot the music education early in my life.

(♪♪♪) - On the other side of the ocean - while Toulouse is France's fourth largest city, it's nevertheless quite a bit calmer than New York.

Rich in history and culture, it's a welcoming place where the talent of singer Kessy Mac Queen has not gone unnoticed.

- (radio host, dubbed): I have the pleasure of introducing today's guest for France Bleu Occitanie, Kessy Mac Queen.

Toulousians, most of our listeners are likely already familiar with your work at this point.

And for those of you who still don't know who Mac Queen is, you've simply got to check out his Dream The Dream album.

Let's listen.

- ♪♪ How you amaze me ♪ ♪ Cause the day stopped still when Ifound you ♪ ♪ Icannot erase it ♪ ♪ My head spins and my heart is racing ♪ ♪ It's our generation ♪ - Kessy, you're originally from the island of St. Lucia.

- (dubbed): It's an English-speaking island located in the Caribbean.

So, in 2017, I had this thing about singing in the streets, in the hopes that I would cross paths with a producer.

And sometimes, I'd walk the streets of Paris, looking for a spot to sleep for the night.

And that was very hard.

- So, you were homeless.

- Yes, Iwas homeless.

- I'd like to hear a little bit about your time here in Toulouse.

There are plenty of Toulousians who can remember having seen Kessy Mac Queen dragging his sound system around, pulling this cart behind you wherever you went.

You would stop, you would set up your speakers, and you'd "do it live", and sing your songs.

You brought a lot of people together doing that.

- Not just in Toulouse!

Across Europe, I dragged my speaker around.

In fact, I adapted my cart so it could be "all terrain", so to speak.

- Like four-wheel drive!

- That's one way to put it.

Sure.

♪ Let's not chase time Let's live it now ♪ ♪ Let's just live it tonight ♪♪ - It was in 2009 that Kessy experienced the magical moment that made him decide to be a singer.

While taking the train, he was suddenly seized by the desire to sing - so, true to himself he began singing his heart out.

A delighted passenger filmed Kessy with his phone and the video went viral online, racking up almost a million views.

- ♪♪ It's time to reunite ♪ When he was a young man, Vanderlei left his hometown to set up shop in Rio de Janeiro, where his music career first took off.

He excelled at jazz, pop, and classical - he was a percussionist for six years for the renowned Orquesta Sinfónica Brasiliera.

It was in Rio that he met Susan, the woman with whom he has shared the last 30 years of his life.

Here we find them on the roof of a public parking lot, which has been transformed int a magnificent community garden.

- (Susan):I'm a singer and pianist and percussionist and Igot into Brazilian music, really, the percussion.

Iwas just dying to go to Brazil.

So Iwent to Rio and Imet Vanderlei.

He could still a little tiny bit.

He says he remembers what Ilook like.

- Yeah, for like six months before Iwent totally blind, Igot to see her face.

- Ah!

Yeah!

(laughing) In his mind, I'm still that age, so... (laughing) I never get old.

If only he knew the truth.

And we've been together for a long time.

And we had a band called Sabor Brazil.

- The couple enjoys the rhythm of New York life.

They love walking around Manhattan.

- (Vanderlei): There's only so much that can be done in the dark, you know, as far as computers, organizing charts for my band.

And then she's always been there.

She always stepped to the plate to help me whenever it's needed and I hope I'm doing the same for her.

- Yes, of course.

- I lost my vision when I was 31 and a half years old.

Ironically, the success that I had depended on my vision, on my reading.

But I knew that one day, I would become blind because I had RP, which is retinitis "pigmentar".

From that point of my career, I thought that life would be over.

I cannot read music, now I am blind, so I think my life is over.

I cannot be a musician.

All of a sudden, my phone started ringing.

My friends, my musicians arrive to carry my drum.

Opportunities, chance to travel, to play with famous artists were happening.

(♪♪♪) And then, I said: whoa, what's going on with my life?

I thought my life would be over because I'm blind, I cannot read music.

But everything was happening, you know?

And then, it struck me.

Oh, man, I think I'm so lucky.

But that happened at the correct time.

Because by then, I didn't have to prove anything about my music qualifications, my ability.

Because I already have earned musical trust from the musical community in Rio de Janeiro.

And I started working, working, working.

As a blind musician, they gave me a chance to go play in Europe, touring with famous artists.

And even the chance to come to New York.

(♪♪♪) - (narrator): Samatan, in the countryside near Toulouse, is the place Kessy decided to make his home.

He has a beautiful house which he shares with his wife, but also some goats and even a few birds.

Being a nature lover whose mother tongue is English, Kessy's journey from the place he was born to the south of France was a long one.

- ♪♪ Changing... ♪ (dubbed): I was born in St. Lucia.

Four days after I was born, my mother discovered that I was blind.

When I was two years old, my mother met an American couple who were very kind and supportive of her.

Afterwards, my mother entrusted me to Meryl and Greg, who lived in New York.

So it was a rich American couple who had means, and who would finance an ocular operation for me.

So I regained my sight when I was about three and a half, four years old, about 70% of it.

(not dubbed) ♪ I was singing bad, bad girl ♪ ♪ Living and loving is a sad, sad world ♪ ♪ As I whisper to you ♪ ♪ How I find you so beautiful ♪♪ (dubbed): When Iwoke up in the hospital room, I was lying in bed and saw the beautiful countryside out the window.

You see the world for the first time in your life and you say to yourself: wow!

I saw a white plane.

And then I started to see birds, and flowers.

Trees, I mean, that was a shock for me.

I would lose my sight again at the age of eight.

One night, I told my mom: I can't see anymore.

I see nothing.

I went to a very dark place for a while.

But six months later, I told myself: let's go!

I rallied myself: that's it, I'm going to live with my disability, I'm going to overcome it.

(♪♪♪) - The life of a singer isn't an easy one, but Kessy finds a certain inner peace with his animals, which he adores.

He spends long hours in the field, playing with his goats and taking care of his doves.

- Yeah!

I got you!

Ha!

ha!

ha!

You're trapped!

So right now, I'm caressing my little goat.

I'm actually proud of my disability because I successfully overcome it every single day.

And in fact, I prefer being blind to having sight in a sense, because I don't see how others look at me.

I'm very sensitive to touch.

The first time that I touched a bird in my life, it was when I was nine years old.

I always wanted to have domesticated birds.

I built a pigeon coop with my own two hands, and I keep some doves in it.

To do that, I bought some tools - a drill, a screwdriver, a saw, all that, everything that you need in order to be able to work with wood.

The animals are a great comfort to me.

They're really a source of inspiration for me.

Working with wood helped me finish my album, in fact.

I keep busy.

- When it comes to advancing his career, Kessy can rely on an important ally: his manager and friend Driss El Hardouni, who has bet it all on him.

- (Kessy): One day, Driss was visiting Paris.

He stopped to listen to me.

After that, he invited me to Toulouse so that we could do some previews, and eventually he brought me to the studio with a team ready to go.

Later, he would sell his restaurant in order to go all in with me on our project, the Dream the Dream album, which was finally released in August.

OK, here we are at the studio Prodweiler Records.

The whole team is here.

So here is Driss.

- (dubbed): I was the one who discovered Kessy, and I was the one who got the team together.

- One, two, three, go!

(♪♪♪) - Here is Bashir, who is the beatmaker.

- (dubbed): I worked with them on a large part of the album.

But it wasn't just me, It was a team effort, that's how the melodies came about.

- Aaron.

- (dubbed): That's me.

I'm the English lyricist of the team, I write the words for Kessy's melodies.

- ♪ Icannot erase it ♪ ♪ My head spins and my heart is racing ♪ ♪ It's our generation ♪ (indistinct) ♪ That's our salvation ♪ - The problem with Kessy: he can do everything.

He can do any genre, so he needs to pick an artistic direction.

Because he's a machine!

He can do reggae, he can do funk.

- Kessy, he's a voice before he's anything else.

That is to say that us, you know, it's like-- I'd compare it to a beautiful tree.

We show up, and there's already a beautiful tree.

We just put some nice garlands on it.

But when you've got a beautiful tree, well, it's easy to decorate and come together.

- I totally agree.

That's a nice metaphor.

Creating for his voice, I dig it.

- This is a song called Ponto de partida, Point of departure, that reflects my very first performance in New York City.

(♪♪♪) (scat) - Vanderlei founded the band Blindfold Test, which owes its name to a peculiar incident.

Years ago, his musicians reproached him for having brought them a score that was illegible.

In response, he asked them to blindfold themselves and to play it by ear, without a score.

Ever since this "blindfold test", which they now recreate at their concerts, the name has stuck.

The bass player Eduardo Belo and the pianist Helio Alves love sharing the stage with Vanderlei, whom they consider to be an exceptional drummer.

- He's a very cool guy for all the Brazilians in town.

He always invite people to his house to play.

He's very open at teaching people things.

He's very good at that.

He likes to share information, you know?

That's why he's such a good teacher.

Like he taught many generations here in New York.

He's one of my favourite drummers ever.

You know, if you only listen to him, you would never think about any difficulties.

It's just playing with an extremely gifted musician.

When I play with him, it never goes through my mind that he has a vision deficiency.

No, nothing.

- Iagree.

100%.

He listens so well, you know, he's always...

When he plays, it makes so much sense that we always know what's gonna happen.

You know?

Yeah, now, Iforget that he's not looking-- he can't see us.

Inever think about that.

- I don't think it's...

He goes with the music.

As soon as we start playing, it never crosses my mind.

(Susan scatting) - Vanderlei, his house is a base for Brazilian musicians.

- If you're a Brazilian musician in town, sooner or later, you'll be there, playing with him, learning a lot of stuff and eating bagels.

(♪♪♪) - And Isaw the world under the sun and also under the sea.

(laughing) Itook advantage to use my vision as much as Ican because that would be helpful.

(♪♪♪) Everything that happened in my life, meeting the right people and being born in the right family and be around... in my life, at the right time, at the right rhythm.

Even the worst, the time to lose my vision, it happened at the correct time, when Idid not need to prove who I am as a musician in order to find jobs.

Id'ont have vision to see the world anymore, but Ihave a vision for rhythm.

We are in the Upper West Side at the Metro Diner at a 100th Street and Broadway.

It's my favourite place to be.

My plan for the future is just try to put the music together in people ears because there's no good life with quality without music, without arts.

And my plan for the future is just keep composing and keep having my band to perform and bring happiness, bring a little bit of my spirit and my positive attitude coming out through the music.

And maybe, who knows, touch somebody else's heart or life.

(♪♪♪) - ♪♪ How you amaze me ♪ ♪ Cause the day stopped still when Ifound you ♪ ♪ I cannot erase it ♪♪ (dubbed): This afternoon, we're going to have a concert in the streets to get people's reactions to the new album.

It makes me really happy to bring happiness and joy to others.

Even though I'm completely blind, I believe that the heart perceives what the eyes cannot see.

That's what matters.

(He sings Magic, indistinct.)

When I started singing in the streets, I loved to bring happiness to the folks passing by.

♪♪ Every single day ♪ ♪ When Itouch your face ♪ ♪ Everything's fell in place ♪ ♪ I'm in love ♪ ♪ I'm in need of your body close to mine ♪ When I saw the happiness that I gave to the folks around me, and the following that I began to get, that's what motivated me to continue, to hope that it would work out.

♪ All kinds of magic... ♪♪ So, my dream for the future?

Well, I need a mixer, and an editor.

My dream, it's to make a breakthrough in my career.

(whistling and cheering) And so, for those of you who don't know me, my name is Kessy Mac Queen.

(♪♪♪)