Batisto Coco
“BATISTO COCO” is a completed Venetian Salsa Orchestra. It was founded in 1985 joining musicians coming from different genders (Classical, jazz) and some percussionists in the name of the same passion: latin music. Most of them met at the workshops held by Airto Moreira, Nana Vasconcellos, Birger Sulsbruck: they were captured by the magic of Salsa so they decided to create a group. Everything started with the studies and arrangements of some classic standard such as Pedro Navaja, Oye como va, Salsa Salseros, Anacaona, Bonito y Sabroso etc., So they soon created a repertory made from 50 famous salsa tunes and started to perform them all around Northern Italy: towns, discos and pubs. The Orchestra became successful very easily thanks to the great stage power in addition to the outstanding ability of its musicians. They were able to rouse the usual audience’s indifference toward latin music. Thanks to the cooperation with rising latin dance schools, BATISTO COCO became the fixed guest in those discos who decided to include mambo, salsa e merengue in their musical program.