Al Garcia

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Born: September 1, 1958 Primary Instrument: Bass

Born in Newark, NJ, Al began playing the bass guitar at the age of 13. He was influenced early on by Jack Bruce and Felix Papalardi, two bass visionaries who helped expand the role of the bass guitar in rock music. His musical horizons were broadened to include Jazz, Classical, and Indian music after hearing John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Later on, the music of Allan Holdsworth inspired Alfred to take up the electric guitar as a means of expressing another side of his musical persona. Other influences on his playing include the music of J.S. Bach, Charlie Parker, Bela Bartok, Eric Johnson, Jaco Pastorious, Jeff Berlin, Brand X, ELP, Yes and pianist Bill Evans.

Al has performed and recorded many types of music. These include Fusion, Progressive Rock, Jazz, Rock, Afro-Cuban, Blues, Country, and Reggae. Alfred believes this varied experience is responsible for his desire to create music that transcends musical boundaries yet remains respectful of tradition.

Al plays 4, 5, and 6 string fretted and fretless basses, various 6 string electric and acoustic guitars, drums and percussion. He uses digital technology to record, compose, and perform music and plays a guitar synthesizer to gain access to sounds usually unavailable to string players. Al uses this varied sonic palette to create a wide variety of moods and textures.

Al is one of the few players who double on bass and guitar to appear in Guitar Player Magazine’s Spotlight column.

He is currently performing with the jazz/rock group Continuum.

Last Updated: March 27, 2011

”If you are at all interested in the music of Allan Holdsworth, Frank Gambale, Jeff Berlin, Return to Forever, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, you owe it to yourself to check out All Things Must Converge. Al Garcia is a musician of many talents, and they are fully on display here for all jazz-fusion fans to enjoy.”

- SeaOfTranquility.org (Pete Pardo)

“Imagine a musician with equal facility on bass AND guitar. He plays guitar like Allan Holdsworth and plays bass like Jeff Berlin. Is he human? Is he from this planet?”

Prog4you.com (Jeffrey Ryan Smoots)

“...this is a great record, featuring beautiful guitar tones and often-breathtaking playing from beginning to end.”

- Guitar Player Magazine (Barry Cleveland )

“What great music! I love your tone and touch and the ideas are wonderful -- beautiful, creative stuff -- and on both guitar and bass! Wow!”

- Michael Manring (Bassist Extraordinaire)

”A brilliant composer and guitar player, Al Garcia released what we can call an excelent example of jazz rock oriented fusion although the material on the CD goes beyond narrow classifications. Unexpected and stimulating, the music on “Alternate Realities” is a journey through the universe of jazz rock and progressive fusion blended by a master musician. From monumental compositions, lighting guitar solos, latin percussion interventions to sophisticated ethereal textures, this album has everything to delight fusion fans. “

- JazzWorldQuest.com

”Once in a long while something will cross our desks here that really captures the imagination as to what could be thought of as the perfect balance of a 'bass album' and a 'songwriter's album'. Al Garcia strikes pretty close to that ideal with his newest release, entitled Make it So. Now, this guy has got to be one of the best-kept secrets in the bass world. Killer chops and with a flawless sense of understatement ... it is a simple fact that his album Make it So is, due to its many strengths, one of the best CD's we have yet encountered in this magazine's life to date. Highly recommended! “

- Bass Inside Magazine ( Warren Murchie)

”Impeccable bass, soaring guitar, lush synth tones, ethnic percussion, and tasty drumming can all be found on Al Garcia's solo release Make It So. Al Garcia is a master bassist, and this is the best CD I have heard in quite a while... Ladies and Gentlemen, I am stunned. I cannot say enough good things about this CD. Buy it. Now!”

- Bassically.net (Scott Hubbell)

”...the music provides a depth of complexity that reaches far beyond most fusion that is being heaped out these days. At the point of this review, my feelings are that Al Garcia needs to be heard by the fusion circles that are existing today, this cd rates as some of the most well arranged instrumental music I have had the pleasure of musing over in recent years, and as for his playing? It's rare when I cannot tell a multi-tasking artist's first instrument, and in Al's case, it's really blurry to me whether he prefers the bass over the guitar, not that it matters, as his mastery of each is ever present through each song here, he displays not only true artistic expression on each instrument, but also quite a diverse arsenal of genre's are exhibited as well.”

-Proggnosis Web Site (MJ Brady)

As a Leader

All Things Must Converge
Wandlar Productions
2011
Personnel: Al Garcia: Guitars, Basses, Drums, Percussion

Alternate Realities
Wandlar Productions
2006
Personnel: Al Garcia: Guitars, Basses; Chris Garcia, Dean Rohan: Drums, Percussion

Make It So
Wandlar Productions
2002
Personnel: Al Garcia: Guitars, Basses; Dean Rohan: Drums, Percussion

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