Evaristo - Bio

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Evaristo is a multi-talented singer, songwriter and guitarist. His most recent recording, "Siempre Que Llueve… (After the Rain…)", combines Cuban rhythms with Latin pop, rock and urban to create a brand new sound. Available on iTunes all the main music platforms it features some of Toronto’s best Canadian and Cuban musicians. Born in Havana, Evaristo now makes Toronto home, where he performs with his group, as well as in solo shows on his guitar, mixing his own material with more traditional sounds such as Cuban Son and songs from the Cuban ‘Trovador’ tradition. Recently, he qualified for a Factor grant to produce his next project.

Evaristo is an independent artist whose music has been featured nationally on CBC Radio and Jazz FM, and on Latin radio around the world. In addition to his most recent recording, Evaristo also has an album of original salsa music, ‘Luna del Barrio’, featuring arrangements by the likes of Juno award winner Hilario Duran. Both ablums (World/Latin) are available on iTunes. For more information, contact us by phone, 416 363 9972, or email us at evysaoco@hotmail.com.

Shows and Awards:

Evaristo performs in many of Toronto’s best music venues, such as Lula Lounge, and at many major events. Highlights include performing at Taste of the Danforth, Barcardi Festival Libre in Toronto's Distillery District, the Havana Cultura Festival, Salsa on St. Clair and the Downtown Jazz Festival. See our Shows page for upcoming performances.

Some of Evaristo’s nominations and awards include being a semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition, and a finalist in the Latin category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, for the title track of ‘Siempre Que Llueve… (After the Rain…)’. His video for ‘Siempre Que Llueve… (After the Rain…)’ features Telmary Diaz, and was nominated for six of Cuba’s prestigious Lucas Awards, including Best Video of the Year. This, and his most recent video, "Tumbao Con Fe" (Tumbao With Hope) can be seen on YouTube.com and on our Multimedia page.

Background:

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 beginning his solo career in 2000.