A unique itinerary between classical, jazz and world music
After a classic course of study, with in particular 4 years of lessons with François Rabbath, various prizes and a state diploma of double bass teacher, Renaud Garcia-Fons has been studying alone since the age of 21, developing a language and a singular technique nourished by the contribution of different musics from east and west.
Renaud Garcia-Fons very early on had the idea of adding a fifth string to his double bass which classically only has four. He already envisions the double bass as a soloist, between composition and improvisation and thus forges his own technique and develops a language that is his own. Its unique style is immediately recognizable.
In the world of Jazz, he collaborates with Roger Guérin, the Contrebasse Orchestra, the ONJ, Nguyen Le, Sylvain Luc, Paquito D’Rivera, Michel Portal, Didier Lockwood, Louis Winsberg …
Close to the flamenco tradition that he studies and transposes to the double bass, he collaborates with David Dorantes, Esperanza Fernandez, Gerardo Nunez, Carmen Linares, … but also with Paul Simon (US), Angélique Ionatos (Greece), Dhafer Youssef (Tunisia), Huong Tanh, (Vietnam) Kudsi Erguner (Turkey), Soriba Kouyaté (Mali), the Chemirani trio (Iran)… in the world of music.
Renaud Garcia-Fons multiplies the awards throughout Europe becoming the first double bassist to be awarded at the Seville Flamenco Biennial. In 2018 he won the BMW Jazz Award.
He has already released more than fifteen albums as a leader on the Enja label then on e-motive records. He composes pieces for chamber orchestra (Mundus Imaginalis), radio credits (Les racines du ciel), film music or of ballets (Something from Carmen).
He performs with his various ensembles (Arcoluz trio, Linea del Sur 4tet, La vie devant soi trio, etc) on the biggest music festivals around the world.
Released in 2021, the album The Breath of the Strings, explores a repertoire for a string 8tet including a classical string quartet as well as instruments from world music.
Also in 2021, as composer and band leader, he was awarded the Grand Prix du Jazz SACEM.
In 2024, he released a new double CD album Cinematic Double Bass, Music for Imaginary Films.
