Evaristo

Bio:

Evaristo is a multi-talented singer, songwriter and guitar player. He has just released a new CD combining Cuban rhythms with Latin pop, rock and urban to create a brand new sound. The CD, ‘Siempre Que Llueve… (After the Rain…)’, is available in CD and digital formats, and features some of Toronto’s best Canadian and Cuban musicians, as well as collaborations with Latina rap phenomenon Telmary Diaz. Born in Havana, Evaristo now makes Toronto home, where he performs with his band, as well as in solo shows with his guitar, mixing his own material with more traditional sounds such as Cuban Son and songs from the Cuban ‘Trovador’ tradition.

Evaristo is an independent artist whose music has been featured nationally on CBC Radio and Toronto’s Jazz FM, and on Latin radio around the world. In addition to his new CD, ‘Siempre Que Llueve… (After the Rain…)’, Evaristo also has a CD of original salsa music, ‘Luna del Barrio’, featuring innovative rhythms and arrangements by the likes of Juno award winner Hilario Duran. Both CDs (World/Latin) are available online at iTunes and indiepool.com.

Evaristo performs in many of Toronto’s venues dedicated to Latin music, such as Lula Lounge and Latinada Tapas Bar. Performance highlights include performing at the College Street Festival, Salsa on St. Clair, the Toronto WinterCity Festival at Nathan Philips Square, and the Downtown Jazz Festival. Some of Evaristo’s nominations and awards include being a semi-finalist in the 2006 International Songwriting Competition, and a finalist in the Latin category for the 2007 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, for the title track of his CD, ‘Siempre Que Llueve… (After the Rain…)’. In 2008, he was nominated in the Best Jazz category at the Ontario Independent Music Awards. His new video, for the title track from his new CD ‘Siempre Que Llueve… (After the Rain…)’, featuring Telmary Diaz, was been nominated for six of Cuba’s prestigious Lucas Awards 2009, including Best Video of the Year (watch above).

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. Evaristo enjoyed a 6 year run with the company, performing regularly as one of the principal singers in Tropicana’s world famous cabaret-style nightclub 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 was a regular singer with groups such as Son Ache, before forming his own salsa band in 2000, and starting the new band and project in 2003.

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Members:

My band varies depending on the size or style I'm playing on a given night, but I always work with the best, most professional musicians in Toronto.

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