With praise from national and international media, music industry awards, shows across Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Portugal, and first-rate compositions, the band ALMA LIVRE, created in 2006 in São Paulo, is the new face of Brazilian reggae. Musicians Alves, Naldinho, Chico, Paulo, Sabiá and Kleberson draw from jazz and soul to season reggae with more swing and groove, all wrapped in social, love and spiritual themes, with original songs sung in Portuguese, English and Spanish.
In its very first year together, the band released a demo project that earned the Os melhores do Reggae - 2006 trophy. In 2010, the group recorded its second demo CD, El amor vencio, which led to a contract with the Portuguese production company Ritmos e Temas Produções. The partnership also opened commercial doors in Europe, Asia and Africa.
In July/2013, determined to also conquer the Latin market, the band released the self-titled CD Alma Livre, with songs in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Entirely original, the album moves through the styles that have been part of the band’s history, as well as romantic songs. Track 2, Its a New Day, shows Alves’ versatility and ease with English and Spanish, and is a flavorful surprise on the record, a reggae rich in elements that evoke the great names of the genre. Jesus is with me “I wrote this song not for religious reasons,” Alves says. “But to talk about this inversion of the truly important points in Christ’s life. People emphasize the way He was born and died, but forget how He lived, His examples, His teachings. I decided to make it in reggae because the genre naturally carries a certain sublime spiritual connection,” the musician explains.
Naldinho, the band’s keyboardist, talks about the musicians’ relationship with the work. “Reggae is a style that has always captivated us because it was born in the ghettos, in a setting of poverty, violence and prejudice. In just a few years it spread around the world, carrying its strength, moving entire nations with its swing and its cry for peace and freedom.”
Recorded at Midas studio in São Paulo and produced by the band itself, the record is considered its debut CD in the Brazilian media, with distribution by Tratore nationwide and promotion in Argentina, Uruguay and Europe.
On May 27/2015 Alma Livre officially released its newest work, the single “Só A Luz Me Acalma”, a track that precedes a new album already being prepared for release by the end of 2015. Recorded in São Paulo and mastered in the Netherlands, the new single is a powerful reggae track, with a strong rhythmic foundation, an incredible sound and lyrics that speak of waiting and hope when we plan and wait so much for something that it seems increasingly distant; the waiting becomes greater than the hope, fear finds us and we feel alone in the darkness, but suddenly a new hope appears on the horizon, as if it carried us and lifted us out of there. It is like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, hence the chorus “Só a luz me acalma”, with a double meaning for the word “luz” (Light and hope).
On August 20/2015, the music video “Só A Luz Me Acalma” premiered on Youtube. Produced by Vertigem Filmes and directed by Walter Junior, the clip has already entered the programming of Play TV and Canal Woohoo.
In April 2016, after 03 tours in Uruguay, 01 tour in Portugal, 01 tour in Argentina, 02 partnerships with international musicians, 01 song released by a foreign label, more than 60 shows across Brazil, 02 demo CDs, 01 independently released CD and 03 music videos, Alma Livre signed with its first record label, ATRAÇÃO FONOGRÁFICA, and is already in the studio preparing its second CD, “DEIXA BRILHAR”, scheduled for release in early May/2016.
"From light to soul, from soul to sound, from sound to freedom!”