Formed in 2006, Água Viva is a group composed by seven musicians that plays contemporary popular music. Their work is based on instrumental music and popular Brazilian music, mixed with different strands and schools of music. Complexities in harmony, rhythm and melody, polyrhythm and polytonality, erudite, popular, regional, the freedom of jazz improvisation and the rhythmic richness of Latin American music opens up a range of styles that makes up the personal and innovative language from Água Viva.
It is formed by the (multi)instrumentalists:
João Bittencourt, piano and accordion
Luciano Câmara, guitar and small guitar
Felipe Cotta, drums and percussion
Mayo Pamplona, electric and acoustic bass
Aline Gonçalves, flute, bass flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet and voice
Yuri Villar, soprano, alto and tenor saxophones
Marcela Velon, voice, making a versatile role, acting as interpreter of traditional songs and also as an instrument with the wind instruments.
INFLUENCES
All musicians of Água Viva were members of Itiberê Orquestra Família or of the Universal Music Workshop of Itiberê Zwarg, which brings to the group all the baggage of Universal Music, musical language created by Hermeto Pascoal and disseminated by various musicians and groups, mainly Itiberê Zwarg, a member of Hermeto Pascoal e Grupo for over 30 years. Hermeto Pascoal is one of the most important Brazilian musicians, with an outstanding international career, considered a great master of instrumental music.
From this experience comes the work of this group, with a big load of tests, which are made not just to improve its performance, but also for that the musicians can know each other more deeply, develop their communication through music and to study little details of each song, as well as new harmonic, rhythmic and interpretative ways. In the words of Itiberê, to develop the act of playing music along, the interaction and musical intimacy.
In addition to this rich musical influences in common, which caused the formation of the group, individually the musicians have done or are part of musical groups from various areas: choro, latin music, flamenco, jazz, samba, and they also work in musical theater, as musicians and composers of movies and plays soundtracks.
