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Al Garcia

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.

Gear

Godin LGXT Guitar

Godin Jazz Multiac Guitar

G&L L2500 Bass

Ken Smith BSR5MW

Quilter Aviator Guitar Amp

Al Garcia: Make It So

Read "Make It So" reviewed by Todd S. Jenkins

by Todd S. Jenkins
October 10, 2002

Hard-hitting, well-executed fusion from a promising new voice. The arrival of CDs which feature one individual playing most of the instruments tends to give chills to reviewers. Fortunately, Al Garcia breaks the mold by crafting inventive, appealing arrangements that utilize all the sounds he has on hand to good effect. He is a member of the Latin jazz group Quarteto Nuevo, but that influence only rears its head on the fine closer. Since the bass guitar tends to be a ...

Recording

Backgrounder: Russ Garcia - 4 Horns and a Lush Life

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
June 9, 2023

There are great jazz albums and then there are tasty great jazz albums. This is the latter—Russ Garcia's Four Horns and a Lush Life (Bethlehem). Recorded in Hollywood in November 1955, the band featured four gorgeous trombonists: Frank Rosolino, Herb Harper, Maynard Ferguson and Tommy Pederson (tb) joined by Dick Houlgate (bs), Marty Paich (p), Red Mitchell (b), Stan Levey (d) and Russ Garcia (arr,conductor). In 2008, I asked Russ about the album during a JazzWax interview: JW: Four Horns ...
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Recording

Pianist Marcio Garcia Is At His Graceful Best On 'Nocturnal'

Source: Marcio Garcia
April 26, 2023

Featuring 2x Grammy award-winning conga player Giovanni Hidalgo, Marcio Garcia is at his majestic best with an ear-calming melody to play all night as the rain flows cheekily from gutters on Nocturnal. Marcio Garcia is a multi-talented Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic-born jazz pianist, composer and educator who was classically trained at various prestigious institutions. Marcio has performed at the Festival de Jazz Restauración Santo Domingo, White Plains Jazz Festival, Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival, Five Points Jazz Festival, Dazzle Jazz ...
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Music Industry

Jerry Garcia Music Arts Launches Indie Record Label, Celebrates His Birthday

Source: HypeBot
August 2, 2018

Jerry Garcia Music Arts LLC, a new mission-based music and arts entertainment services company, is commemorating the August 1st birthday of the late great Grateful Dead founder Jerry Garcia. To celebrate, the company is releasing a remastered live recording of “Ripple” from the acclaimed guitarist’s 1982 solo acoustic performance at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey. The free single will be made available to fans via iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Napster, MediaNet, VerveLife, Tidal, Gracenote, Shazam, and 7Digital. ...
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Recording

Rob Garcia Presents: Finding Love In An Oligarchy On A Dying Planet On Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records - April 29, 2016

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
March 19, 2016

ROB GARCIA PRESENTS: FINDING LOVE IN AN OLIGARCHY ON A DYING PLANET ON BROOKLYN JAZZ UNDERGROUND RECORDS APRIL 29, 2016 Featuring the Rob Garcia 4: Rob Garcia (drums & compositions), Noah Preminger (tenor saxophone), Gary Versace (piano), Masa Kamaguchi (bass), with special guests Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone), Kate McGarry (vocals) & Brendan Burke (spoken word) CD Release Concerts/Celebrations: Wed, 4/6- Taller de Músicos, Gijon, Spain Thurs, 4/7- Bilbaina, Bilboa, Spain Sat, 4/9- Sunset, Girona, Spain
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Recording

Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records Releases New Recordings From: Rob Garcia, John Chin & Gianni Gagliardi

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
May 29, 2014

BROOKLYN JAZZ UNDERGROUND RECORDS Releases New Recordings From: ROB GARCIA, JOHN CHIN & GIANNI GAGLIARDI Available TODAY, May 27, 2014 BJURecords CD Release Celebrations: ROB GARCIA: May 31, Toronto, Canada @The Rex June 1 - Rochester, NY @Lovin' Cup June 4 - Boston, MA @The Bee Hive June 5 - Cambridge, MA @Beat Hotel June 19 - NYC @The Cornelia Street Cafe July 10 - Old Lyme, CT @The Side ...
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Recording

Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records To Release New Recordings From: Rob Garcia, John Chin & Gianni Gagliardi

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
May 8, 2014

"Brooklyn jazz is happening and those who venture across the bridge will be delighted by the hard-edged ethnically-flavored jazz that they find on the other side." —All About Jazz “...The spirit of the organization is firmly rooted in Brooklyn. All of the members reside there, and they wanted to give a nod to the vitality of its scene." —The Wall Street Journal BROOKLYN JAZZ UNDERGROUND RECORDS To Release New Recordings From: ROB GARCIA, JOHN CHIN & ...
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Recording

Dr. Judith Schlesinger Co-Produces "Beautiful Love" With Paulinho Garcia

Source: Dr. Judith Schlesinger
February 12, 2014

After a dozen years of commenting on other people's music, and the executive producing of the acclaimed 2011 Trust by the Sean Smith Quartet, All About Jazz columnist and reviewer Dr. Judith Schlesinger is once again putting her money where her mouth is. On Valentine's Day, her Shrinktunes Media, together with Paulinho Garcia's Jazzmin Records, is releasing Beautiful Love with a dinner concert at Chicago's International Theater. The CD, which is receiving uniformly glowing reviews in the United States as ...
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Festival

Roberto Fonseca, Renaud Garcia-Fons, Daniel Humair, Michel Portal & Vincent Peirani perform at Souillac Jazz Festival this July

Source: Erica Meltzer
June 12, 2013

The new jazz generation converges with its Afro-American roots this year at the Souillac Jazz Festival in southwest France, to be held from 15 to 21 July. SIX EVENING CONCERTS 16 July The Trio d'en bas will stage an entertaining and unusual spectacle in the Grottes de Lacave. 18 July The drummer Daniel Humair will lead his “Sweet & Sour” Quartet (double-bassist Jérôme Regard, saxophonist Emile Parisien [winner of the Jazz Academy’s 2012 Django Reinhardt prize] and accordionist Vincent Peirani ...
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Recording

Works: Michel Gentile-Daniel Kelly-Rob Garcia Proudly Releases Their Debut Recording, Works

Source: Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
April 22, 2013

CD Release Celebration @ The Cornelia Street Cafe - July 11! “Michel has the instincts of a leader." —Jimmy Giuffre “Daniel Kelly is a pianist and composer who confidently splits the difference between murky history and sleek progressivism." —The New York Times WORKS, featuring Michel Gentile (flute), Daniel Kelly (piano) and Rob Garcia (drums), is the resident ensemble of the vibrant non-profit organization Connection Works (http://www.ConnectionWorks.org ). Bandleaders in their own right, these artists embrace the unique instrumentation of WORKS ...
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Recording

"Keystone Companions/The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings" By Merl Saunders And Jerry Garcia In Four-cd Set From Fantasy Records

Source: conqueroo
August 1, 2012

Deluxe four-CD box set, due September 25th, contains vintage photos, extensive liner notes and memorabilia Double vinyl LP reissue of the very first Saunders/Garcia album. Live at Keystone due to be released concurrently. BERKELEY, Calif. — Keystone Companions/The Complete 1973 Fantasy Recordings, recorded live on July 10 and 11, 1973 at the Keystone club in Berkeley, California, beautifully captures the magical musical friendship of keyboardist Merl Saunders and guitarist Jerry Garcia. The Fantasy Records lavish four-disc set, scheduled for September ...
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"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."

- 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)

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