Yoel Soto - Waking Up (2008/2019)

Yoel Soto, guitarist, bassist, composer, musical producer, and poet started studying classical guitar at the age of 11. In 1995, at the age of 17, he participates at Jazz Plaza Festival in Havana with Bobby Carcassés, one of the most important Jazz representatives in Cuba. In 1996 Yoel obtained his diploma of the electric bass guitar from the National School of Art in Habana and the same year, before leaving for Italy, where he stayed for several years, he collaborated with known Cuban bands like Bamboleo and Diákara.

As the bassist of Havana Mambo Orchestra and musical director of Havana Express Orchestra Yoel participated in several international music festivals like Umbria Jazz, Sorrento Jazz, Festival di San Remo, Antilliaanse Feesten Hoogstraten -largest Caribbean Festival in the world- and others all over Europe. He was also a member of Tribá, a successful music band from Turin; Diego Borotti Jazz Quartet and known percussionist Bruno Genero (collaborating with famous African artists like Arona N’ Diaye Rose, Baba Sissoko, and Sekouba Bambino Diabate).

For several years Yoel Soto directed the Latin All Stars Orchestra (a Salsa music project based in Athens, Greece) accompanying well known Latin artists like Alfredo De La Fe, Jimmy Bosch, Frankie Morales, Orlando Watussi, Luisito Rosario, Larry Harlow, and singers of the Spanish Harlem Orchestra (multiple Grammy award winner and nominated) Ray De La Paz, Herman Olivera, Frankie Vazquez and Marco Bermudez. Yoel has also collaborated with other international artists like Angel Parra, Lou Bega, Τony Lakatos, Tony Remy (Incognito), Keziah Jones and drummer Charles Haynes. Being for several years a member of “Guataca”, Chico Freeman’s band, Yoel have played in some of the most important Jazz clubs, theaters and festivals all over Europe, Greece, and Africa.

During his staying in Greece, he collaborates with many projects and artists like Vette Michelle & SouLuv Trio, Harmonia Misturata Trio, Neo Yoruba People, Eva Loukatou, Singularity (International Athens Jazz Festival; Jazz in the Pines Festival in California, USA; STIWA Jazz Forum, Hagenberg, Austria), Filippos Pliatsikas, Foivos Delivorias, Stavros Lantsias, Lefteris Christofis, Nikos Touliatos, Jan Van, Tsakelectric, Giorgos Traintalidis, Delos Project, Idra Kayne, mc Yinka, Demy (MAD Greek music awards), Pashalis, Efstathia, Malu Kiriakopoulou, Agni, Sophia Papazoglou, La Cucaracha band, The Latin All-Stars Meeting Orchestra, Marina Satti & Fonés, Dionisis Savopoulos, Dimitra Galani, Anna Vissi, Mariza Rizou, Spyros Grammenos, Matoula Zamani, Vassilis Papakostantinou, Alejandro Díaz, Sipan Orchestra, Cubaneros band, Spyros Kolaitis, Giorgos Mandrekas, Tania Tsanaklidou, Lakis Papadopoulos, Thanassis Alevras, Antonis Kiritsis, Stamatis Kraonakis, Afroditi Manou, and the list goes on. His song “La Tengo Amarrá” was included in the soundtrack of actor and film director Antonis Kafetzopoulos’s movie “Η γυναίκα είναι κακός άνθρωπος”. He is also the musical producer of Uruguayan singer Janet Kapuya’s album “Profundamente” and one of the producers of Mingrelia`s album “Deep Waters”.

In 2014, Yoel presented the project "The Panagiotara Project", taking its name from a song composed by well known Greek singer-songwriter Loukianos Kilaidonis called Mia Mera Mias Meris, and, adapting some verses to Spanish, he recorded it and presented it on the International Women`s Day that year together to 19 female artists. This version and its respective video clip aimed to criticize domestic violence towards women.

From January to May 2018, Yoel presented a musical project called "Mi casa" performing every week his own compositions and, together with some of the most renowned artists in Greece, also performed famous Greek and international songs adapted to Spanish by himself. Some of these artists: Foivos Delivorias, Natasa Bofiliou, Kostis Maravillas, Leonidas Balafas, Souli Anatoli (Rena Morfi), Martha Moreleon, Dimitris Tsakas, Jerome Kaluta, Adedeji Adetayo, and others.

Yoel Soto released his first personal album ”Waking Up”, in Turin, Italy with DDE Records; in April 2015 released his second personal album called “Eterna”, and in February 2019 will be released his new personal album called “Con Pocas Palabras”.