Search - Yoan Soriano :: Afrobachata

Afro Bachata is the third album by Yoan Soriano. It is part of the Santo Domingo Blues bachata series. Yoan Soriano is featured in the new film Santo Domingo Blues and many of the tracks on this album appear in the documentary. This album is made to dance to. It is the rage of cantinas and colmados throughout the Dominican Republic but is only begin to hit the dancehalls in the US and Europe. The first track, Ya Encontre La Mujer (I Found My Woman), is an evocative love song about finding the right woman. "I found the woman who knows how to love me/ I found the place in my soul where she knows how to live." The tune features the inimitable, transcendent guitar styling that has made Soriano?s playing a staple on the albums of other great bachata artists like Zacarias Ferreira and Teodoro Reyes. The tune also contains Soriano?s evocations of his parents, Cande the withdoctor and Juana. It is a magical number. The second track, El Hombre Tuyo Soy Yo (I Am Your Man), is a bubbly, bouncey bachata that is getting a lot of airplay on the radio in the Dominican Republic these days. The happy chorus in the traditional African call and response pattern is mesmerizing. It lifts you off your feet. In addition to a number of other vibrant bachatas including Puras Mentiras (Pure Lies), Quien Rie Ultimo Rie Mejor (He Who Laughs Last Laughs Best) and Cansado de Esperar (Tired of Waiting), the album features two wicked merengues on guitar, Los Que Me Esperaban, Llegue (For those Who Are Waiting, I Have Arrived) and Lo Van A Bailar (They Are Going To Dance It). In these merengues Soriano takes traditional drum rhythms and plays them percussively on the guitar. Track seven, Popuri de Son, represents the Cuban son tradition also popular in the Dominican Republic. There are many Dominicans who will put up a pretty good argument if you tell them son is from Cuba, not from the Dominican Republic. The album as a whole is not only a great new contribution to the bachata genre. It represents a unique fusion of AfroDominican roots music and dancehall bachata. Yoan Soriano does not mess around.