- country:France
- style(s):Reggae, Salsa
- label:Cumbancha
- type:Band
- gender:male
- instrumentation:vocal, salsa and latin band
- artist posted by:La Candela, artist booking & promotion
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Territory: Germany / Austria / Eastern Europe / Scandinavia
Period: all year on request
'Una y Otra Vez' has been nominated for Latin Grammy
Sergent Garcia burst into the French music scene in the late 1990s with a searing blend of Jamaican reggae and dancehall with Latin grooves that he names "salsamuffin." A veteran of French punk and indie rock, Sergent Garcia has explored his Spanish roots and passion for Caribbean and Latin music to create a popular sound that earned him fans across the globe and sales of hundreds of thousands of albums. Bruno Garcia, alias Sergent Garcia, is the son of a Basque Spanish father and a French mother, with family connections to Algeria and the Ivory Coast. Bruno recalls, "It was like a hybrid family with many colors. I spent a lot of time with my little cousin, whose father was from the Ivory Coast. Their household had a very African flavor: there were always people coming from Africa to visit for week-ends. They were always listening to African music, to soul music, American music, it exposed me to a lot of different things."
After having lived in Barcelone, Bruno moved back to Paris in 1984 to start a band called Ludwig von 88. The band went on to become one of the most popular groups on the French alternative rock and punk scenes, recording over ten albums and performing together for thirteen years. ibn the 90ies Bruno started a side project of DJing with a Jamaican-style sound system. It was at this time that he started using the stage name Sergent Garcia. Ever since he had come back from Barcelona years earlier Bruno had tried to remain connected with his Latin roots. "I wanted to stay in touch with the Latin community and Spanish language so I was listening to Latin radio, and I began to go the Latin fiestas." Since then, Bruno has visited Latin America and the Caribbean numerous times, traversing the continent in search of new sounds and collaborators.
'Una y Otra Vez' (Cumbancha 2011)
The current album 'Una y Otra Vez' was recorded in different segments and in various locations. First, Bruno and Ivan Darroman Montoya, a Cuban percussionist in the Sergent Garcia band and co-producer of the group's albums for the past ten years, began developing the arrangements and structures of the songs in Valencia. They took these tracks to Paris where they recorded the basic tracks with the rest of the Sergent Garcia band. Finally, Bruno headed to Colombia where he worked with a range of local musicians, including Jacobo Velez, clarinetist and director of the cutting-edge band La Mojarra Electrica, Erika Munoz, one of the lead singers of electro-tropical pioneers Sidestepper, musicians from La-33, Colombia's top young salsa band, Li Saumet, the lead singer of Bomba Estereo and many others. The result of these multinational sessions is Una y Otra Vez, Sergent Garcia's sixth full-length album. For years, Sergent Garcia was signed to EMI France, but for this special project Bruno decided to return to his independent roots and sign with US-based label Cumbancha.