Biography
Chico Mann serves as the alter ego of guitarist Marcos Garcia and is recognized for his high-energy fusion of Afrobeat, synthy funk, and intense acid rock. As a founding member of the Daktaris and Antibalas, he first drew notice through his solo debut, the Afro-Cuban-infused Manifest Tone, Vol. 1 from 2007. Subsequent releases such as 2010’s Analog Drift, 2013’s Magical Thinking, and 2017’s Night Visions further broadened his musical palette.
The son of Cuban émigrés, Mann/Garcia was raised by a mother who worked as a pianist and disc jockey and a father who ran a record label while producing merengue. Immersed in music from an early age, he absorbed salsa—especially the bands of Willie Colón—alongside early hip-hop typified by the boundary-pushing work of Afrika Bambaataa and Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, as well as the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti. He committed himself to piano, guitar, and breakdancing.
His initial group, the Daktaris, issued the widely praised Soul Explosion on Desco in 1998; the album fused Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat with the soul stylings of Kool & the Gang and the funk grooves of Funkadelic. Mann and several Daktaris colleagues joined forces with musicians from the Soul Providers and King Chango to establish the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, later shortened to Antibalas. The ensemble toured extensively, championing the style and helping spark its widespread resurgence in the early 2000s.
Mann’s creative drive extended beyond collective projects. On the 2007 release Manifest Tone, Vol. 1 he performed every instrument, handled production, and supplied all vocals—delivered in Spanish—while merging Afro-Cuban elements, hip-hop, soul, and Afrobeat. His follow-up, Analog Drift, came out on Wax Poetic in 2010 and earned favorable international notices by intertwining salsa, Afrobeat, proto-hip-hop-soul, and DJ-culture textures into an energetic, danceable mixture. In December 2012 he issued the Hanukkah single “Light of Love (featuring Alecia Chakour)” through his Bandcamp page. Soundway, the label run by Miles Cleret, put out his third album, Magical Thinking, in March 2013. Four years later Mann collaborated with the globe-trotting Brooklyn DJ and producer Captain Planet on the vibrant, wide-ranging Night Visions, released by Bastard Jazz Recordings. Double Life appeared on Ubiquity in 2020 and included contributions plus co-production from his ex-Antibalas colleague Geoff Mann.
The son of Cuban émigrés, Mann/Garcia was raised by a mother who worked as a pianist and disc jockey and a father who ran a record label while producing merengue. Immersed in music from an early age, he absorbed salsa—especially the bands of Willie Colón—alongside early hip-hop typified by the boundary-pushing work of Afrika Bambaataa and Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam, as well as the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti. He committed himself to piano, guitar, and breakdancing.
His initial group, the Daktaris, issued the widely praised Soul Explosion on Desco in 1998; the album fused Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat with the soul stylings of Kool & the Gang and the funk grooves of Funkadelic. Mann and several Daktaris colleagues joined forces with musicians from the Soul Providers and King Chango to establish the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, later shortened to Antibalas. The ensemble toured extensively, championing the style and helping spark its widespread resurgence in the early 2000s.
Mann’s creative drive extended beyond collective projects. On the 2007 release Manifest Tone, Vol. 1 he performed every instrument, handled production, and supplied all vocals—delivered in Spanish—while merging Afro-Cuban elements, hip-hop, soul, and Afrobeat. His follow-up, Analog Drift, came out on Wax Poetic in 2010 and earned favorable international notices by intertwining salsa, Afrobeat, proto-hip-hop-soul, and DJ-culture textures into an energetic, danceable mixture. In December 2012 he issued the Hanukkah single “Light of Love (featuring Alecia Chakour)” through his Bandcamp page. Soundway, the label run by Miles Cleret, put out his third album, Magical Thinking, in March 2013. Four years later Mann collaborated with the globe-trotting Brooklyn DJ and producer Captain Planet on the vibrant, wide-ranging Night Visions, released by Bastard Jazz Recordings. Double Life appeared on Ubiquity in 2020 and included contributions plus co-production from his ex-Antibalas colleague Geoff Mann.
Albums
As Of Right Now
2025
Wake Up
2017
Night Visions
2017
Night Visions Remixed
2015
Magical Thinking
2013
Manifest Tone (The Best of Volumes 1 - 3)
2013
Same Old Clown EP
2013
Analog Drift
2010
Manifest Tone EP
2007
Singles
