Dino Soldo

Dino Soldo, a Los Angeles-based multi-instrumentalist who sings and composes, first earned wide notice through his supporting roles alongside global headliners Leonard Cohen and Lionel Richie. Originating from La Verne, California, he started formal music instruction at five years old and has long drawn from a broad range of touchstones that encompass Lester Young, Ben Webster, Eddie Harris, Tom Waits, and Buster Keaton. Throughout the late 1980s and the 1990s he built a reputation as a flexible session player within smooth jazz circles, beginning on saxophone before adding harmonica and keyboards to dates for guitarist Chris Standring and additional artists. When not recording, he frequently traveled as a touring musician with an extensive roster of performers, Ray Charles foremost among them. His first full-length solo project, Strange and Beautiful, appeared in 2000 and inaugurated a string of independently issued, stylistically varied albums on Tobacco Bagg Records; later titles on the same imprint comprise Thread (2003), Balance (2008), Closer Away (2009), and The Hotel Suites (2009). The final pair of those records took shape during Soldo’s extended worldwide travels with Leonard Cohen across 2008–2009. In his sideman capacity he can be heard on Cohen’s widely praised Live in London (2009) as well as multiple live albums issued by Lionel Richie after the turn of the century. By that stage Soldo had moved beyond smooth jazz, joining forces with R&B figures such as Angie Stone and Donnie alongside pop and rock artists including Rob Thomas and Rick Springfield.