19 GENNAIO 2012
Joan Soriano Announces New Album
Bachata Star To Release La Familia Soriano This Spring
Following the critical success of his debut album, El Duque de la Bachata (iASO Records), singer-guitarist Joan Soriano presents La Familia Soriano, on which he continues to refine his down-to-earth style of shantytown bachata. Joan is the seventh of fifteen brothers and sisters, half of whom are professional musicians. On La Familia Soriano, Joan shares the microphone with siblings Griselda, Nelly, and Fernando. The Sorianos have been making music together for all their lives. This new album showcases the family's artistry.
Besides Joan, Griselda, Nelly, and Fernando, La Familia Soriano also includes Joan's sister Amparo (chorus), and Amparo's husband Julián Pacheco (bass guitar and choruses). The Sorianos' musical intimacy, derived from years of playing and living together, shines through the recording.
Joan's music has been a family affair from the outset. He grew up playing in a sibling band led by elder brother Tatico, who helped him fashion his first guitar from a can of cooking oil and fishing wire At age 13, Joan left home and made his way to Villa Mella, a notorious Dominican shantytown that is the heartland of bachata. He developed his career working with the legends of classic bachata, and was ultimately introduced to Benjamin de Menil, the New York-based founder of iASO Records, which specializes in albums and performances of traditional Dominican music, including Bachata Roja and Puerto Plata.
At 39, Soriano has collaborated with many of the progenitors of bachata. He plays a music that is at once more modern than theirs, and yet is more traditional than that of young U.S.-based bachata stars like Aventura and Prince Royce. Soriano's songs embody the playful, unvarnished earthiness of Santo Domingo's streets and countryside.
Soriano's vivacious brand of bachata was on display this year in sell-out performances in the US and Europe. Joan and La Familia Soriano will perform at the Reno Winter Bachata Festival, January 6-8, 2012 in Reno, NV. Other tour dates will be announced soon.