Dino Soldo

Best known as a sideman for international superstars such as Leonard Cohen and Lionel Richie, Dino Soldo is a multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter based in Los Angeles, CA, who released a series of stylistically wide-ranging albums beginning in 2000. Hailing from La Verne, CA, he began music lessons at age five and cites an array of influences who include Lester Young, Ben Webster, Eddie Harris, Tom Waits, and Buster Keaton. During the late '80s and 1990s, Soldo established himself as a versatile sideman in the smooth jazz field, initially working as a saxophonist but later playing harmonica and keyboards as well on a number of sessions by guitarist Chris Standring and others. Meanwhile, when he wasn't in the studio he was often out on the road touring with a long list of artists, most notably Ray Charles. Soldo made his full-length solo debut with Strange and Beautiful (2000), the first in a series of stylistically diverse albums that he released independently on Tobacco Bagg Records. Successive releases on the label include Thread (2003), Balance (2008), Closer Away (2009), and The Hotel Suites (2009). The latter two albums were recorded while Soldo was out on the road with Leonard Cohen, touring around the world for months at a time during 2008-2009. As a sideman, Soldo is featured on Cohen's acclaimed Live in London (2009), and he's also featured on several post-millennial live albums by Lionel Richie. By this point in his career, Soldo had broken out of the smooth jazz field and was collaborating with R&B artists like Angie Stone and Donnie as well as pop/rock artists like Rob Thomas and Rick Springfield.