Biography
Evaristo may be better known for leading one of the best salsa big bands in Toronto, but recently he has returned to his roots as a composer and guitar player, with a new project that infuses Latin pop/rock with urban, reggae funk, and Cuban rhythms to create a brand new sound. He has showcased the project at Lula Lounge and other clubs around the city. He also performs on solo guitar, mixing his own material with more traditional sounds such as Cuban Son in the ‘Trovador’ tradition. He released a salsa CD in 2005, and is currently putting the final touches on a CD for the new project to be released soon.
Evaristo performs in many of Toronto’s venues dedicated to Latin music, such as Lula Lounge and Latinada Tapas Bar. Performance highlights have included performing in the College Street Festival at Revival, the Downtown Jazz Festival at the old Bamboo Club, and the Toronto WinterCity Festival at Nathan Philips Square. In 2004, Evaristo's song 'Luna del Barrio' was selected by the Canadian Value of Music Coalition and the Harris Institute for the Arts as a winner in Opening Act, a competition for unsigned artists.
In 2006, he was nominated in the Best World Music category at the Toronto Independent Music Awards. He qualified as a semi-finalist in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition, and as a finalist in the 2007 Jon Lennon Songwriting Contest for the title track of his upcoming CD, ‘Siempre Que Llueve…’ (Every Time it Rains). In 2008, he was nominated in the Best Jazz category at the Ontario Independent Music Awards. And his new video for ‘Siempre Que Llueve…’, featuring Telmary Diaz, has been nominated for six Lucas 2009 Awards, including Best Video of the Year (go to YouTube.com and search on 'Evaristo featuring Telmary').
Evaristo was born in Havana City, Cuba. He has been composing music since he was a teenager, and graduated from Havana’s Ignacio Cervantes Music School, training to be a singer, as well as guitar, piano, acting, and musical composition. In the 1980s, Evaristo started playing guitar and singing publicly in the Cuban ‘Trova’ style, in concerts and improvised performances around the Havana club scene. Evaristo’s professional career began in 1987, when he played guitar with Jesus Morales (“Moralitos”), one of the greats in Cuban Music. In 1988, he sang for a year with the Cuban National Radio and Television Chorus.
Then in 1989, Evaristo auditioned for the Tropicana Nightclub in Havana, and joined the company as a singer and dancer. The Tropicana has a world famous cabaret-style nightclub show, performing 6 nights a week. He stayed with the company for 6 years, performing regularly as one of the principal singers in the show. With Tropicana, Evaristo went on many international tours, performing in Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
Evaristo lived and performed in Milan, Italy for 3 years before coming to Canada in 1997, where he met Grammy-nominee Jane Bunnett, and started performing with her Cuban jazz ensemble. He performed at the (then) Du Maurier Theatre with Memo Acevedo in 1998, and has also performed in the TLN Festival at Canada’s Wonderland. He was a regular singer with the Pablo Terry Band (Sol de Cuba), Klave y Kongo and Son Ache, before forming his own salsa band in 2000, and his new band in 2003.
Instrumentation
Evaristo works with some of the best Latin musicians in Toronto. For his new Latin pop/rock project, the line-up is typically Evaristo on acoustic guitar and vocals, with bass, piano, drum kit, congas and electric and/or flamenco guitar. Sometimes he adds sax and trumpet to the mix. Evaristo also performs singing solo on acoustic guitar, and he can form various sized ensembles depending on the venue: duo with guitar and percussion; trio with guitar, Cuban tres (traditional Cuban three string guitar), and percussion; or quartet with guitar, bass, piano, and percussion.
Discography
Evaristo’s independently produced CD of original salsa music, ‘Luna del Barrio’, features some of Canada’s best Latin musicians, including Alexis Baro on first trumpet. The CD (World/Latin) is available on cdbaby.com (www.cdbaby.com/evaristo). It has been featured on Jazz FM 91 (Café Latino and others), on CBC Radio (Big City, Small World and others), and on many Latin community radio stations. For information, email evysaoco@hotmail.com, or check out his Web site at www.evaristomusic.com.
Evaristo is currently putting the final touches on a CD for the new project, ‘Siempre Que Llueve…’ (Every Time it Rains). The music is Latin pop/rock infused with urban, reggae funk, and Cuban rhythms to create a new sound. Samples are available here and on our web site (www.evaristomusic.com). His new video for ‘Siempre Que Llueve…’, featuring Telmary Diaz, has been nominated for 6 Lucas 2009 Awards, including Best Video of the Year (go to YouTube.com and search on 'Evaristo featuring Telmary').
Links
| http://www.evaristomusic.com |