Evaristo is part of the new generation of Cuban composers, as well as a powerful singer and dancer. This versatile Cuban-Canadian is comfortable in a wide variety of musical genres, from his own brand of flamenco-infused salsa, to Nueva Trova, Latin jazz and pop, and traditional Cuban music. He has a 10-piece band that plays Evaristo’s original songs, as well as being an accomplished singer/songwriter, performing solo on his acoustic guitar.
Evaristo performs regularly at shows and festivals in and around the Toronto area, both solo and with his band. Highlights include the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival (2002 and 2006), the Toronto WinterCity Festival, the Little Italy festival, and TLN Television’s Salsa on St. Clair. 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. This year, he was nominated in the Best World Music category at the 2006 Toronto Independent Music Awards.
Evaristo has released his first independently produced CD of original salsa music, ‘Luna del Barrio’. It features highly danceable songs and innovative rhythms, with arrangements by the likes of Juno award winner Hilario Duran. The CD (World/Latin) is available at such fine music retailers as Sam the Record Man and cdbaby.com . It has been featured on Jazz FM and CBC Radio, and on Latin radio around the world. For more information, check out our Web site at www.evaristomusic.com for info on the latest shows.
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 classical 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 (“Moralitosâ€), one of the greats in Cuban Music. In 1988, he sang for a year with the Cuban National Radio and Television Chorus.
In November 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 as one of the principal singers in the show. With Tropicana, Evaristo went on many international tours, performing in Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Holland.
Evaristo lived and performed in Milan, Italy for two 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 starting to perform under his own name in 2000.