World scene influences Garcia

Garcia is in Nor Cal on his swing of the West, touring with one of Latin music's hottest hits this year: "Una y Otra Vez,"(Time and Time Again), his sixth full-length recording.

Garcia, whose birthname is Bruno Garcia, is the French-born, Spanish-bred "Salsamuffin" groomed for the world music scene.

He and his musical crew blow into Tucson on Friday for a performance at the Rialto Theatre, a first-time visit to Arizona for the recording artist on the Cumbancha label. His performance is part of Friday's HoCo Latino music night.

"I just love the desert," said Garcia, who has traveled the world in his search for his global sound.

Garcia's sound is a mix of Jamaican reggae, Latin salsa, North African gypsy, Euro electronica with a good dose of punk and rock. Not surprising, because Garcia's first foray into music was influenced by groups like the Clash and the Ramones.

"I spent a lot of my time listening to rock, English, American and much more," said Garcia in Spanish.

Garcia was born to a Basque father and French mother. But the family connections extended into Spain and Africa, specifically Algeria and the Ivory Coast. He lived in Bilbao, Spain, and Paris during his youth.

Regardless of where his family lived, his home was constantly filled with visitors from other countries.

"And they always had music with them," Garcia said.

He found himself and renamed himself Sergent Garcia after a character in Walt Disney's "Zorro" television series from the late 1950s. Afro-Cuban timba, Puerto Rican bomba and plena, and Colombian cumbias became his musical diet.

By the mid-'90s, Garcia was full time into the salsa and Latin dance-hall sound. He dubbed himself the "Salsamuffin," a take off of ragga muffin, reggae hip-hop.

In 1997, Sergent Garcia debuted with "Viva el Sargento" followed by "Un Poquito Quema'o" (A Little Burned) in 1999.

"Every where I go I listen for new music and sounds to create my own style," said Garcia.