Nicky Soul, born Nicolás Antonio Tavares Bautista in Moca, Espaillat, is a Dominican merengue singer associated with the orchestras of Félix del Rosario. Known for «Mis años con ella» and «El cóndor pasa», he sang with «Los Magos del Ritmo» before becoming a featured voice of the «Santo Domingo All Star Band» and «Grupo Félix». His birthday is 19 March; the year has not been established.

From Moca to the orchestra

He grew up in La Rosa, a community near Moca, singing while selling the cassava empanadas his mother made. Gerardo Veras gave him the stage name Nicky Soul and helped develop his diction and vocal technique. Soul began his professional career singing ballads with «Los Diamantes», a group formed by Veras and Sadí Peña. He later moved toward merengue. In early 1977 he entered Félix del Rosario's «Los Magos del Ritmo» as a backing singer for Frank Cruz and the vocalist known as El Negrito Macabí.

The Santo Domingo All Star Band

After that apprenticeship, Soul joined the «Santo Domingo All Star Band». The orchestra recorded for Borinquen Records in Puerto Rico, and «Río Rebelde» became its first widely heard merengue. Soul's repertoire from this period included «Mis años con ella», «Lo que ha quedado», «El burrito de Belén» and «Una noche no es bastante». The group's albums «Merengues Fever» and «Los Merengues de mi tierra», followed by a release billed to Nicky Soul and Félix del Rosario, preserve his place in the orchestra's late 1970s and early 1980s recordings.

Grupo Félix and New York

Félix del Rosario subsequently formed «Grupo Félix», with Soul and Felipe Jorge among its singers. Soul recalled recording «Pim pum como tú», «El barco», «Sí», «El cóndor pasa» and «Navidad sin pan» with the group. He later traveled to the United States with «Los Hermanos Ruiz» and performed at «Casa Borinquen». An opportunity to join «Grupo SOS» with Johnny Reyes led him to remain in the country and continue working as a singer, although his absence from Dominican stages made his earlier career less visible at home.

Later recordings

In 2019 Soul announced work on the merengues «La morenita» and «La gozamba», arranged by Joan Minaya. Both songs also appear in his digital catalog, although the platform dates do not establish when those recordings were made. His recordings with Félix del Rosario circulate on streaming services as well, including «Mis años con ella», «El cóndor pasa» and «Navidad sin pan». Their digital grouping does not establish the sequence of the original vinyl albums.

Legacy

Nicky Soul connected Félix del Rosario's «Santo Domingo All Star Band» and «Grupo Félix» through a recognizable singing voice. His first-person accounts also document the later New York chapter of a career that continued beyond the recordings for which Dominican merengue audiences first knew him.