Born in the rural countryside near Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Joan Soriano infuses steel string bachata with equal parts romance and grit. He is the star of Adam Taub’s, The Duke of Bachata, was featured in Alex Wolfe’s critically acclaimed documentary, Santo Domingo Blues, and is on The Rough Guide’s Bachata compilation.
Bachata is essential to Dominican culture and draws upon a variety of influences from Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. A practitioner of palo and gaga, Joan Soriano blends Afro-Dominican sacred traditions with bachata, imparting his music with down to earth spirit and danceability. Joan preserves bachata’s roots and expands on them. He is a rare combination of new and authentic.