Fabrizio Zoro

La Maxima 79 band leader Fabrizio Zoro is one of the most influential musicians on the modern salsa scene.

Fabrizio’s love affair with salsa arose from truly unlikely origins: a dedicated fan of house music, he was eventually dragged along to a salsa night, unsure of whether he’d enjoy the music at all.

But, salsa soon sucked him in for good. Inspired by his initial obsession with house music, Fabrizio channelled his admiration for house DJs into his new found fascination with salsa music.

It’s this unique approach to his understanding of salsa that has made Fabrizio’s name. His careful calibration of what DJs, dancers and musicians need makes his music such a resounding success with traditional salsa bands, up and coming salsa DJs and professional and amateur salsa dancers the world over.

As a well-established On2 salsa DJ, Fabrizio’s mixing emphasises the percussive elements of salsa music, transporting the dancers out on the floor to a level where they can experience the best of these rhythmic salsa features.

A multi-talented musician, Fabrizio also plays piano, bongos and cowbell with La Maxima 79. His work is inspired by any genre of salsa that comes his way, but he links being born in the decade of the 90s to his particular penchant for salsa romántica.

Fabrizio began his own professional development studying with bassist Rodolfo Guerra, who directed Sincopa Latina, one of the first salsa orchestras in Italy.

Since then, Fabrizio has blazed his own trail in the salsa world, creating innovative compositions that display his own unique style. But, he still credits major salsa names for their ongoing inspiration, including the likes of Ray Perez, Tito Rodriguez and Elio Reve Matos’ Orquesta Reve, as well as renowned salsa dancers Jonathan Somoza, Fernando Sosa and Juan Matos.