Raul Midon grew up in New Mexico.

His family is African-American and Argentine.

And Midon writes songs that combine those influences.

His key vocal influences are Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway.

His guitar style brings in a life-long affair with flamenco and a few other latin idioms.

Midon: There's one song on the album called "Tembererana" which is based on a rhythm from Argentina called carnavalito, and I used that rhythm, and I use traditional instrumentation that would be used in playing the carnivalito, bombo, charango, and quena, and it's sort of a pop song. So in this record particularly, the Argentine influence was there.

Here are a few notable facts about Raul Midon.

He is blind.

His twin brother - also blind - is an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Lab.

Their mother died when they were young.

Raul and his brother were raised by their father.

He recognized Raul's talent.

And when the boy was six, his dad started him in guitar lessons.

Midon: The first guitar lessons I had were all flamenco, so the first things that I learned on guitar and the way I learned to play guitar was from a flamenco perspective. So it's a very important part of guitar for me, and particularly the rhythmic approach and the percussive approach to guitar playing that's in flamenco.

Midon: My father actually owned a restaurant in which there was a flamenco show every night, and of course I was fascinated with it and I would go to this club, which, I was pretty out of place being a five or six year-old child, and going to this club at night and listening to this pretty intense music.

Midon: Something that I've always heard in my head, and it started I guess with flamenco, but it was this idea of having percussion and chords at the same time, and somehow making that happen with one instrument. And so, I think you know when I moved to New York and found myself in sort of situations playing solo, to people that were really not there to see me and I really had to get their attention.

Fast, percussive, but deadly-accurate guitar chopping was one way Raul Midon got the audience's attention.

Then there's another thing he does to draw attention.

In fact he does it so well, it only really works to full-effect if you see him live.

He did it a couple of years back on the Late Show with David Letterman as he sang his single "State of Mind."

.............That's the sound of a trumpet, but Raul Midon isn't playing a trumpet.

He purses his lips and makes that sound with his mouth.

So when he and I spoke, I just had to get him to solo on his human horn.

Marco Werman: Where did you learn to do that?

Midon: Nobody taught me, but I've always been interested in jazz improvisation, so while I was working on that on the guitar, I was also listening to trumpet players and horn players in general, and it was just something that I started doing as a way to explore using my voice as an instrument.

Human horn aside, Raul Midon is gimmick-free.

He is one of those rare artists who can stand alone on a bare stage and excite the audience solely with his multi-faceted talent.

More than half-a-million views on youtube of Midon's appearance on the Late Show seem to indicate that many still value pure artistry.

For The World, I'm Marco Werman.