Taína & Gaetano Vaccaro. Photo by Liz Lajeunesse RETURN to ARTIST DIRECTORY

NAME: Taína Asili & Gaetano Vaccaro CULTURE: Puerto Rican & Sicilian GENRE: Latin American folk & flamenco REGION: Capital-Saratoga Region COUNTY: Albany BIO: Puerto Rican vocalist Taína Asili and Sicilian guitarist Gaetano Vaccaro perform some of Latin America’s best loved folkloric classics and Spanish flamenco. They have travelled the world together from California to Mexico to Puerto Rico enchanting audiences with their musica latina. Most recently they studied flamenco in Spain under the instruction of some of the world’s most renowned flamenco performers, including guitarist Miguel Angel Cortes and vocalists Alicia Gil and Esperanza Fernandez. Gaetano and Taína fell in love in 2006, and there began their journey of intertwining music and family. It is this union that allows their music its profound passion and connection. Taína Asili, from Philadelphia, PA and Albany, NY, has performed at venues, festivals, and conferences around the world, and has shared the stage with renowned artists such as Ursula Rucker, Sonia Sanchez, Pamela Means, and Tyrone Hill of The Sun Ra Arkestra. Her performance history is eclectic, first trained as a classical vocalist by a local Peruvian opera singer, Taína has since sung in numerous musical projects of varying genres from Afro-Caribbean to rock to hip hop, including her current six-piece world music band, Taína Asili y La Banda Rebelde. Gaetano Vaccaro is first generation Sicilian, raised in Albany, NY. Influenced by the Sicilian guitar playing of his father and grandfather, Gaetano began studying various musical instruments in his early childhood. One might now be challenged to find an instrument he cannot play, well versed in guitar, bass, drums, saxophone, clarinet, flute, keyboards, and cello. He is skilled in numerous genres from rock to flamenco. In addition to his work with Taína Asili, Gaetano also performed for five years with the hip hop/rock band Broadcast Live. LISTEN: http://www.asilivaccaro.com/music.html WEBSITE: www.AsiliVaccaro.com CONTACT: info@asilivaccaro.com

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