Nono Garcia

Antonio García Domínguez, Nono García (Barbate, Cádiz, 1959). Guitarist.

He learned to play in a barber shop in the village where he was born. After gaining experience with local singers, he continued developing his musical training in diverse situations, such as a Franciscan youth organization and a university in Málaga, where he taught music. While studying philosophy in the University of Granada, he was invited to work as a guitarist for the folk singer Carlos Cano, and was also involved in collaborations with Antonio Mata, Aurora Moreno and the jazz-rock group ‘La Banda del Tío Paco’. With this solid start, his professional career was under way. His personal and artistic adventures took him to Madrid, coinciding with the rise of the movida nightlife. There, he worked with several groups, including ‘Candela’, as well on his own, and even composed for films and documentaries.

At the end of a European tour with the Cádiz guitarists Tito Alcedo and Antonio Toledo, he settled in Brussels for eight years. There he finished his jazz studies, founded the ‘Nono García Belgian Band’, accompanied the group ‘Vaya con Dios’, shared the stage with musicians from different backgrounds, and made his first recording, ‘Las quimeras del momento’ (1992, currently out of print). With the incorporation of Chano Domínguez in his trio, the quartet was renamed ‘Cádiz-Experience’. The Cádiz pianist offered him a context for his first experiments with Spanish folkloric singing (canción española), which would eventually culminate in his collaboration with Martirio.

On his return to Madrid in 1996, he taught at the Escuela de Música Creativa, reformed a trio with Javier Colina and Guillermo McGill, and founded the ‘Piñones Flamenco Band’ with flamenco singer Eva Durán. He has also collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Javier Ruibal, Las Hijas del Sol and Azúcar Moreno. The breadth of his experience as a guitarist is crystallized in his eclectic recording ‘Atún y Chocolate’, released in 2002 with the executive production of the actor Gabino Diego. At this time, Nono García is working on new recording projects that feature his guitar solos or covers of well-known songs.