José Peña Suazo (born January 18, 1967), is a Dominican Merengue singer, arranger, composer and musician. Pena Suazo has played the trumpet, composed and arranged in many Dominican merengue music groups like

Cuco Valoy Cuco Valoy (born January 6, 1937, in Manoguayabo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Dominican Republic singer, songwriter, percussionist and guitarist, who is versatile in salsa, son montuno, guaracha The guaracha () is a genre of musi ...

's orchestra and ''La Artillería''. He is currently the lead singer of

La Banda Gorda La Banda Gorda is a popular Merengue music group from Dominican Republic directed by José Peña Suazo. The band plays fast Merengue from Dominican Republic, salsa music and is known for its diverse style and Caribbean flavor. History Jose Pe� ...

Career

Early life

José Peña Suazo was born on January 18, 1967, in

Cotuí Cotuí is a city in the central region of the Dominican Republic and is one of the oldest cities of the New World. It is the capital of Sánchez Ramírez Province in the Cibao. According to the Population and Housing Census, the municipality had ...

, capital of

Sánchez Ramírez Province Sánchez Ramírez () is a province which constituting one of the 32 provinces of the Dominican Republic. It is divided into 4 municipalities and its capital city is Cotuí. Located in the Cibao Sur region in central Dominican Republic, it is bord ...

in the

Cibao The Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country. As of 2009 the Cibao has a population of 5,622,378 making it the most populous region in the country. The region constitu ...

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. He was a premature baby but was able to survive his early childhood. While growing up in Dominican Republic he was exposed to many Latin music genres like Bachata, Merengue and Salsa. At the age of seventeen Peña Suazo started taking Tuba lessons with the Dominican music teacher Juan Eutimo Jerez. However, after his older brother, Arturo Suazo, formed his own group, Suazo joined him as a trumpet player.

1980s

In 1987, Suazo moved out of

to the Dominican Republic's capital

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

, looking for a band in which he could advance his music career. For some time, he played in the Santo Domingo Fire Department's music band and then joined

's orchestra, where he was first trumpet and composed and arranged some of the group songs. He was then approached and asked to be the musical director of the renowned Dominican merengue band called ''La Artillería''.

1990s

In 1991, he played the trumpet in the ''Pochy y la Coco Band'' group and composed and arranged songs for them as well.

La Banda Gorda

In 1994, Suazo formed the International Merengue music band

, in which he is the lead singer, arranger and composer.

Discography

* Libre al Fin (1994) * Candela Pura (1995) * Tu Muere Aquí (1996) * Por el Mismo Camino... Durísimo (1997) * Calienta Esto (1998) * Evolución (1999) * Aquí, Pero Allá... (1999) * 20th Anniversary (1999) * Esta Noche (2000) * Melao' (2002) * 10th Anniversary (2002) * Sueña (2004) * Puro Mambo (2004) * Más Durísimo (2005) * The Number One (2008) * Ironía (2008) * Esto Se Baila Así (2011)

References

1967 births 21st-century Dominican Republic male singers Latin dance singers Living people Merengue musicians 20th-century Dominican Republic male singers Dominican Republic songwriters Male songwriters {{DominicanRepublic-musician-stub