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Coringas.com - Pobrema (Neto Fernandes)

Coringas.com - Come-come (Neto Fernandes)

Coringas.com - Areias do Campeche (Leo Garcia)

Thanks for visiting my page! I hope you enjoy my music. Your comments and appreciation are welcome.

I was born in Porto Alegre – RS, south of Brazil, and I'm a professional musician since 1986.

As a child, surrounded by vinyl records at home, I became a fan of The Beatles at four years old, by winning a record collection from my 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 in my early life. The assorted and diversified records available at home during my 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. My real interest in playing music, however, started at fifteen, after I moved to a guitarist-teens crowded neighborhood.

My first studies included two years of Music Theory and Ear Training at OSPA’s Music School (Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre, my hometown’s symphony orchestra).

In 1989, bassist Ricardo Baumgarten invited me to move to Portugal, where I lived until 1996, and where I kept a busy schedule as instrumentalist and teacher. In Lisbon, I had the good fortune of studying jazz guitar improvisation under North American teacher Eddy Goltz and German teacher Fredo Mergner, and worked with top Portuguese guitarist (and great mentor) João Maló, whom I was lucky enough to have as a roommate.

Back in Brazil, I 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.

I've been living in the city of Florianopolis - SC, south of Brazil, since 1997.

My compositions have won prizes at various festivals.

I studied at UDESC, Santa Catarina State University, where I graduated in 2004, and in 2006 I became a regular teacher for such classes as Harmony and Counterpoint, Musical Analysis, Ensemble Performance, Arranging, and Improvisation in graduate courses at that University.

In 2008, I joined Coringas.com quartet, an instrumental Brazilian music group, alongside drummer Neto Fernandes, bassist Edu Almeida and keyboardist Uiliam Pimenta. We are just releasing our first CD and DVD, with ten originial compositions.

Check the group at www.myspace.com/coringas

Also visit my website at www.leogarciamusic.com