Alma y Vida were an important musical group in Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 during the first half of the 1970s. Composed of jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 musicians that turned to rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 in the late 60s (Carlos Mellino was a member of The Seasons), while other future members were regular visitors at the historic "La Cueva" club, Alma y Vida were pioneers in Argentina of jazz-rock in the vein of Blood, Sweat & Tears

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...

, group whose music influenced the band's formative sound.

Original Members

• Carlos Mellino: voice and keyboards
• Juan Barrueco: guitar
• Alberto Hualde: drums
• Bernardo Baraj: saxophone
• Carlos Villalba: bass
• Mario Salvador: horns

History

Once they settled on a style, Alma y Vida recorded their debut single: "Niño de color cariño" b/w "He comprendido", for the Mandioca label. Soon after, Gustavo Moretto

Gustavo Moretto

Gustavo Moretto is a Argentinean composer, pianist, trumpet player and singer-songwriter.- Work and education :...

 replaced Mario Salvador on the horns, which would in hindsight be an important development. Alma y Vida then proceeded to sign with RCA to release their first self-titled album.

Alma y Vida was to be influenced by the huge success of Chicago

Chicago (band)

Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...

's similar music proposal. 1971's homonymous debut featured hit songs "Mujer, gracias por tu llanto", "Veinte monedas" (with superb guitar) and "Lágrima de ciudad".

The band was increasingly popular in not-so-rock circles, particularly in so-called "trendy" clubs, yet only mildly received in the rock industry. But the strength of their sound would begin to reach crossover audiences, particularly after their 2nd full-length Alma y Vida II (another influence of Chicago was the title of the records). The track "Hoy Te Vamos a Cantar" was a significant hit.

Their third album, 1973's Del Gemido de un Gorrión, was arguably their strongest and one of the best rock releases of the period. It was sophisticated music, as much rock as mature melodies with some political leanings (to the left), predicting Argentine rock trends by about three years.

Alma y Vida released self-titled number IV for RCA in 1974. "Salven a Sebastián" ("Save Sebastian"), is widely seen as the biggest single in the group's catalog. And the rest of the album remains strong, the culmination of a half-decade of strong musical output that by 1975 had won rockers and music hall listeners alike.

But by then Gustavo Moretto

Gustavo Moretto

Gustavo Moretto is a Argentinean composer, pianist, trumpet player and singer-songwriter.- Work and education :...

 gave the announcement he was stepping aside from Alma y Vida to pursue new musical horizons (he would form prog-rock act ALAS

ALAS

ALAS was a mid 1970s, mostly instrumental progressive rock group in Argentine rock. They were also one of the major players in the tango-rock movement in Argentina during that period, alongside Rodolfo Mederos's group and Invisible...

).

A now five member group released Alma y Vida V (number five), in early 1976. But the album showed clear signs of fatigue, in spite of a solid single in "Le daré su mano a Dios". That would be the end of the road for the group, with Carlos Mellino also leaving, but not before Alma y Vida left a delightful and gratifying sounding mark in the landscape of music of their time.