Gualberto García Pérez was born in 1945 in Sevilla, Spain. He grew up in a family of flamenco performers. His maternal grandfather and his mother, Pastora Pérez Peral, were flamenco singers.
Very young, at the age of 17, he dropped out and formed the rock group Los Murciélagos. Shortly after, in 1967, he co-founded the iconic rock band Smash that set the foundation of what later became known as Andalusian rock. Smash disbanded in 1973. After the dissolution of Smash, Gualberto traveled to the United States, where he studied music and started composing music. He joined the Yoga Symphony Orchestra and formed a group with Diwan Mothihar, a famous Indian sitarist. From then on, he never detached himself from the sitar.
Back in Spain, Gualberto recorded two Andalusian rock albums where he mixed flamenco with progressive rock: “A la vida al dolor” (To life and pain) and “Vericuetos” (intricacies).
Between 1976 and 1979 he arranged and collaborated with several rock and flamenco projects. The restless Gualberto, who introduced psychedelia in Spain, made friends with Manuel de Los Santos “Agujetas”, a gypsy from Jerez who performed deeply rooted traditional flamenco. In 1979, they recorded a fusion of cante jondo songs (pure flamenco) and sitar called “Gualberto y Agujetas”.
During those years, the Sevillian musician made multiple orchestral arrangements, in which he combined flamenco instrumentation (hand clapping percussion, voice, guitar, etc.) with classical elements (string quartets, wind trios, etc.). He recorded several albums (Puente mágico, Sin comentario), composed on request (Cuarteto Bienal, Cuentos de la Alhambra) and his own work (Turruñuelo, Crisol, Contrastes).
In 1989, he began his collaboration with guitarist Paco del Gastor that continues today and has given rise to countless concerts inside and outside of Spain. His presence at the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla served as a platform for presenting his musical research.
By 2000, he presented Constelación flamenca for soprano voice, violin, flute, double bass, percussion, sitar veena and flamenco guitar, obtaining great critical acclaim. During the new century, he has kept his compositional pulse and his concert activity firm and tireless (with the premiere, for example, of his concert Caminos del aljarafe, for wind quintet, and Mis cuerdas, a work for piano, cello, flamenco guitar, electric guitar and sitar).
He currently continues to play both solo and with various classic rock or flamenco groups, and making music for documentaries and chamber music with his own compositions. In 2020, he released Duende eléctrico, written for a psychedelic rock group.
Discography:
A La Vida, Al Dolor (Movieplay, 1975)
Vericuetos (Movieplay, 1976)
Gualberto y Agujetas (Movieplay, 1979)
Puente Mágico, with Ricardo Miño (Aires del Sur, 1983)
Sin Comentario (Lost Vinyl, 1996)
Contrastes, with Ricardo Miño (Pasarela, 1998)
Gualberto (Wah Wah Records, 2003)
Duende eléctrico (2020)