Don Sonero bio

Born in Puerto Rico, Gilberto Velázquez, who performs under the name Don Sonero, is a vocalist, actor, music producer, lyricist, and sonero (improvisor) raised in the Bronx. He has worked in multiple genres with a concentration in Latin music since his teenage years. To date he has been a background vocalist for more than 50 musical artists; however, he specializes as a lead singer in Latin music. He is a featured vocalist in a multitude of bands with which he has gone on international and national tours and performances and is featured on various albums including Grupo Magia (Grupo Magia, 1996), Bailando Con SonSublime (SonSublime, 2006), Mi Tumbao Social and Machete (La Excelencia, 2009 and 2020), A Su Propio Peso (Juaco Salsa, 2016), and Yesterday, Today, & Tomorrow (The New Swing Sextet, 2018). He released a debut album as Don Sonero titled La Verdadera Escena in 2012 that incorporates a fusion of different Latin music genres including Latin jazz, bolero, salsa, salsa urbana, and more.

From 2008–2010, he worked with music legend Paul Simon, as a principal actor and vocalist for three renditions of Simon’s musical-concert versions of The Capeman. Other theater credits include Game Over at the Bronx’s Pregones/PRTT and co-starred in I Like It Like That on Broadway from November 2016 to January 2017. In addition, he was the lead singer for the house bands for New York restaurants Sofrito NYC and Don Coqui from 2009–2015. He enjoys working as a collaborative musician on different endeavors, including music therapy and various community and private events as he works on another album as Don Sonero.