Lasse Garcia Grøftehauge Jensen is a Danish guitarist, composer, arranger and producer specializing in flamenco, Latin and jazz. His work is rooted in flamenco guitar while drawing on a broad musical background spanning contemporary music, jazz, Latin music, cinematic music, classical music and the Nordic musical heritage.
He is guitarist, arranger and composer in the duo Lasse Garcia & Patricio Fraile (ES/DK), and he is a founding member, guitarist, tres player, arranger and conductor of the flamenco latino quartet El Perito Cuatro (CL/DK) and guitarist in the flamenco jazz trio Lasse Garcia, Anders Keiding & Emilio ‘El Perito (CL/DK). Moreover he performs with a number of ensembles and projects, including La Leyenda del Tiempo, Chaneki Flamenco Ensemble and Rasmus Dissing & Flamencolegenderne.
Since 2001, he has spent extended periods in Spain, where he has studied flamenco guitar at institutions including the Fundación Cristina Heeren de Arte Flamenco in Seville, ESMUC – Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona and Carmen de las Cuevas in Granada. His teachers and mentors have included flamenco masters such as Gerardo Núñez, Dani de Morón, Diego del Morao, Rafael Cañizares and Paco Cortés. He has also studied the Cuban tres in Havana and Trinidad, Cuba.
Over the years, he has collaborated with numerous artists, including saxophonist Hans Ulrik, bandoneon player Paolo Russo, bass player Niels Wilhelm Knudsen, flamenco dancers El Torombo, Manuela Vargas, José Manuel Álvarez, Jasiel Nahin, Antonio ‘El Tabanco’, Jossette Reilly, Catherine Vigh ‘La Kati’, Kirstine Hastrup and Bellali Austria, singers Claus Hempler, Andrea Pellegrini, Rasmus Dissing, Erik Grib, Alba Carmona, Pedro Garrido ‘El Niño de la Fragua’, Juan Murube, Sara Holgado and Emilio Ulises Labarca Arp (Son Puntillas) and guitarists Juan Diego Mateos and Eugenio Iglesias.
Lasse Garcia holds a Master’s degree in Musicology and Spanish Philology from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Barcelona. His academic work has focused on musical change, identity formation and the transmission and transformation of tradition in flamenco. Moreover he has developed educational material on flamenco for musikipedia.dk.
