Yoel Soto

Cuban bassist, guitarist, composer, arranger and poet, born 1 September 1977 in Havana, Cuba. In 1995, at the age of 18, he participated in the Festival Jazz Plaza de La Habana with Bobby Carcassés, and in 1996 he obtained his diploma of electric bass from the National School of Art. That same year he went to Italy, where he stayed for eight years and participated in various festivals like Umbria Jazz (1997), San Remo (1998) and different Latin festivals where he shared the same scene with some of the most important figures of Latin music like Celia Cruz, Oscar D' León, El Gran Combo, Eddie Palmieri. In 2002 he was part of a jazz trio's tour in many Universities of Milan. Actually he lives in Athens, Greece, where for almost 3 years he directed the Latin All Stars Salsa Orchestra which has played with musicians of international fame like Alfredo de la Fe, Jimmy Bosch, Orlando Watussi, Luisito Rosario, Larry Harlow, and singers of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra –2005 Latin Grammy winner and 2007 Latin Grammy nomination– Ray De La Paz, Herman Olivera, Frankie Vazquez, Marco Bermudez. With the same orchestra he recorded and produced an album with all compositions and arrangements by himself. Yoel has participated in some Greek performances like recording the first album of Greek accordionist Ζωή Τηγανούρια, and, as composer, his song "La Tengo Amarrá" was included in a film soundtrack. He also finished the musical production of the new album (Profundamente) of Ζανέτ Καπούγια, a known Uruguayan singer based in Athens. His first personal jazz album "Waking Up", recorded in Turin, Italy, is being released by DDE Records, a discographic company based in UK. At the same time he's part of the new production of Guataca (Chico Freeman's project), and Souluv (Ivette Michelle Jarvis project). Since the summer of 2010 he is a member of the Harmonia Misturata trio, working on a project focused on the blending of classical music with Latin American sounds.