Leo Garcia was born in Porto Alegre – RS, south of Brazil, and is a professional musician since 1986.

As a child, surrounded by vinyl records at home, he became a fan of The Beatles at four, by winning a record collection from his elder sister's godfather, who worked for local EMI. The singles out of The White Album, as well as Let it Be and Abbey Road made a tremendous impact (no wonder, for someone who was born the moment the movie A Hard Day's Night was being premiered in London, on July 6th, 1964). The assorted and diversified records available at home during childhood also ranged from regional folkloric music to James Brown, from The Carpenters to Grand Funk Railroad to Carole King, from Ray Charles to Pink Floyd to Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, and of course, many different styles of Brazilian and South American music. His interest in playing music, however, started at fifteen, after moving to a guitarist-teens crowded neighborhood.

His first studies included two years of Music Theory and Ear Training at OSPA’s Music School (Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, his hometown’s symphony orchestra), and also studied under Francisco ‘Zezé’ Silva (a well-known local guitarist/teacher), still in his hometown.

From 1989 to 1996, he lived in Portugal, where he kept a busy schedule as instrumentalist and teacher. There, he studied jazz guitar improvisation under North American teacher Eddy Goltz and German teacher Fredo Mergner, and worked with top Portuguese guitarist João Maló.

Back in Brazil, Leo Garcia has attended several workshops, with well-known Brazilian musicians such as Arismar do Espírito Santo, Nelson Faria, Mauro Senise, Hélio Delmiro, Heraldo do Monte and Robertinho Silva.

Leo Garcia has been living in the city of Florianopolis - SC, south of Brazil, since 1997.

His compositions have won prizes at various festivals.

He has collaborated with well-known Brazilian artists such as Adriana Calcanhoto and Oswaldo Montenegro, having recently performed in the concert "Brasilidades", at Teatro do CIC, in Florianopolis, alongside stars João Bosco and Yamandu Costa.

Leo Garcia’s works concentrate in the area of Brazilian Jazz, often performing with some of the most representative local musicians, such as guitarist Guinha Ramires, accordionist Alessandro ‘Bebê’ Kramer, bassists Carlos Ribeiro Jr. and Rafael Calegari, pianist Luiz Gustavo Zago, and drummer Andrew Scott Potter.

Having recorded a demo album with four of his compositions in 2004, in a trio with bassist Rafael Calegari and drummer Rodrigo Paiva, he is currently recording his first official solo album.

As a teacher, besides private lessons, he has taught at Centro de Artes Interpretativas, in Trafaria, Portugal, which had courses sponsored by the European Community (EC).

He has taught a course on Jazz and Brazilian Music Improvisation for 4 semesters in a row at UDESC, Santa Catarina State University, where he graduated as a Music Educator in 2004.

Since 2006, he became a regular teacher for such classes as Music Composition Fundamentals (Harmony and Counterpoint), Musical Analysis, Ensemble Performance and Arranging, and Improvisation in graduate courses at that University.

Visit www.leogarciamusic.com