Chico Mann
The alter ego of guitarist Marcos Garcia, Chico Mann is known for his frenetic blend of Afrobeat, synthy funk, and hard-hitting acid rock. A founding member of both the Daktaris and Antibalas, Mann first garnered attention for his solo work with 2007's Afro-Cuban-influenced Manifest Tone, Vol. 1. He has continued to expand his sound on albums like 2010's Analog Drift, 2013's Magical Thinking, and 2017's Night Visions.
Mann/Garcia grew up the son of Cuban émigrés -- his mother was a pianist and disc jockey; his father a record label boss and producer of merengue records. Surrounded by music, Mann soaked up the influences of salsa -- particularly Willie Colón's bands -- early hip-hop (in particular the genre-blurring sounds of Afrika Bambaataa and Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam), and Fela Kuti. He took up piano, guitar, and breakdancing in earnest.
His first band, the Daktaris, recorded the acclaimed Soul Explosion, which was issued by Desco in 1998. The band's sound combined the Afrobeat influence of Fela Kuti with the soulful sounds of Kool & the Gang and the grooves of Funkadelic. Mann and some bandmates united with members of the Soul Providers and King Chango to form the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra (later trimmed to Antibalas), who became globetrotting purveyors of the sound, and actually spearheaded its popular revival in the early 2000s.
Mann's own interests could not be restricted to those of his band, however. He released Manifest Tone, Vol. 1 in 2007, on which he played all instruments, produced, and sang -- all the vocals were in Spanish and melded Afro-Cuban, hip-hop, and soul sounds with Afrobeat. His next offering, Analog Drift, appeared on Wax Poetic in 2010 to positive reviews internationally. Here, salsa, Afrobeat, proto-hip-hop-soul, and the sounds of DJ culture came together in a frenetic, infectious gumbo. Mann released the Hanukkah single "Light of Love (featuring Alecia Chakour)" in December of 2012 via his Bandcamp page. His third album, Magical Thinking, was released by Miles Cleret's Soundway label in March of 2013. In 2017, Mann teamed up with world-traveling Brooklyn-based DJ and producer Captain Planet for the funky and eclectic Night Visions, which was issued via Bastard Jazz Recordings. Double Life arrived on Ubiquity in 2020 and featured contributions and co-production from his former Antibalas bandmate Geoff Mann.
© Thom Jurek /TiVo
Discography
16 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
-
Nobody Wants To
Latijns-Amerika - Released by Soundway Records Ltd on 20 mei 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Same Old Clown EP
Latijns-Amerika - Released by Soundway Records Ltd on 4 mrt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Oye Bien
Wereldmuziek - Released by Bastard Jazz Recordings on 9 dec. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Night Visions
Wereldmuziek - Released by Bastard Jazz Recordings on 17 feb. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Analog Drift
Electronic - Released by Wax Poetics Records on 1 jan. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manifest Tone (The Best of Volumes 1 - 3)
Latijns-Amerika - Released by Soundway Records Ltd on 8 apr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Magical Thinking
Latijns-Amerika - Released by Soundway Records Ltd on 15 apr. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Manifest Tone EP
Latijns-Amerika - Released by Soundway Records Ltd on 12 nov. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sorrow Tears & Blood
Funk - Released by Ubiquity Records on 23 okt. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Un Poquito Mas
Electronic - Released by Bastard Jazz Recordings on 26 mei 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Night Visions Remixed
Wereldmuziek - Released by Bastard Jazz Recordings on 15 dec. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Como Me Miras
Electronic - Released by Bastard Jazz Recordings on 1 jul. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Bell
Wereldmuziek - Released by Bastard Jazz Recordings on 17 feb. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -