User:Cs7809/sandbox

Gabriel Lorenzo Garzón-Montano (born June 27, 1989 in Carroll Gardens) is a multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter based in New York City. Garzón-Montano released his debut album, Jardín in 2017 through Stones Throw Records. After earning a spotlight by opening for the Lenny Kravitz European tour in 2014 and appearing in a sample by Drake in 2015, Garzón-Montano has been frequently covered in both U.S. and international music press for his unique musical sound that infuses R&B, soul, and funk.

Early life
Garzón-Montano was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised by immigrant parents of French-Colombian heritage. His mother was a member of the Philip Glass ensemble as a mezzo-soprano who played guitar, cello, and piano in the 1990s.

2014-2016: Bishouné: Alma del Huila
On February 4th, 2014, Garzon-Montano's Bishouné: Alma del Huila was released in conjunction with Styles Upon Styles, a Brooklyn based recording label. The extended play's title derives from his family heritage as Bishouné is a phonetic spelling of a childhood nickname his French mother called him, and Alma del Huila is a name for the Colombian municipality of Garzón, his father's last name. The 6-track extended play was Garzón-Montano's first release, and contained songs such as "6 8" among others which had been written several years earlier. Garzón-Montano created tracks in GarageBand and would later record with Henry Hirsch at Waterfront Studios in Hudson, New York, where he played all the instruments to be tracked directly to 2-inch tape. After the project was completed, he pressed 500 vinyl copies of Bishouné with the indie label, which distributed it door-to-door to record stores in New York City. Singer Mayer Hawthorne heard the album playing in a local record store and sent the album to Stones Throw Records which sparked the connection with the famed label for Garzon-Montano's next release. Lenny Kravitz would invite Garzón-Montano to open his Strut 2014 European stadium tour, which rocketed the opener's venues from cafes and intimate stages to arenas full of thousands. While Garzón-Montano was on tour in Europe, he received a message from Drake referencing his track "6 8", which would result in the song being sampled for Drake's "Jungle" on If You're Reading This It's Too Late These events led to a significant rise in interest in Garzón-Montano, despite not having released a full album at the time.

2017-Present: Jardín
On January 27th, 2017, Garzon-Montano released his debut studio album, Jardín, with Stones Throw Records. The album was supported by three single releases, "Sour Mango", "The Game", and "Crawl". The title of the album is a reference to his own heritage and language as it is spelled interchangeably between French and Spanish. Jardín, like his previous release, was recorded onto 2-inch tape to achieve the high-quality organic sound, which complemented a theme of diverse color and flavor as is heard throughout the album. Imagery of fruit and plant life are ingrained in the music from "Sour Mango" to the cactus in "Crawl", as well as vivid poetic sequences in "Fruitflies". Since the album's release, videos for the songs "Crawl" and "My Balloon" have been uploaded through Stones Throw.

Musical influences
Garzón-Montano frequently mentions musical influencers such as Prince (whom Jardín is dedicated to), Stevie Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, Marvin Gaye, and The Beatles, Radiohead. He was exposed to classical music through his mother as well as to salsa and cumbia through his father. At age 15 on a school trip, Garzón-Montano purchased a few bargain greatest hits CDs that would have a profound impact on him, notably hearing ‘Sing a Simple Song’ by Sly and the Family Stone, as well as James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic.