Jose Peña Suazo y la Banda Gorda

Joseph Virgilio Pena Suazo better known as Banda Gorda was born in city of Cotui, Dominican Republic. Joseph began studying the trumpet in 1987, and soon after joined the fire department band of Santo Domingo. Joseph then formed part of Cuco Valoy’s merengue band as a first trumpet player, where he became a composer, arranger and started making a name for himself throughout the Dominican Republic. After years of performing with various famous merengue groups including La Rokabanda, Pochy Familia y la Coco Band, Joseph fulfilled his dream to start his own musical project and La Banda Gorda was formed. His first album, Free At Last, was well accepted by the Dominican community in the US, making Banda Gorda a very popular merengue band from the Dominican Republic. After releasing their second album, Candela Pura, the band became a national and international musical phenomenon.