Brazilian jazz ensemble.
Itiberê Zwarg is an award-winning Brazilian bassist and the longest-serving member of Hermeto Pascoal’s ground-breaking ensemble ‘O Grupo’. Since their first meeting in 1977, the two have been closely collaborating to create a unique musical language: a genre-defying polyharmonic, polyrhythmic music, now widely studied by musicians and musicologists alike, known as ‘Universal Music’.
Back in 2001, Itiberê led a workshop at Villa Lobos School of Music, with twenty-nine of Rio de Janeiro’s most exceptionally talented young musicians. Employing the principles of Universal Music alongside his long-held belief in the powers of listening and intuition, over the course of many months, with regular intensive 7 hour rehearsal sessions, Itiberê composed and arranged in real time, transcribing the improvisations of the prodigious orchestra while allowing the players freedom to experiment. The result was Pedra do Espia, an Amazonian orchestral masterpiece which is as difficult to categorise as it is fun to listen to.
“Itiberê Orquestra Família make universal music. This family has fallen from the sky. Their music is excellent, a treasure chest full of harmonic, rhythmic and melodic jewels." - Hermeto Pascoal, 2001
Named after the beachside viewing point which translates as ‘Spy’s Rock’, where Itiberê would sit as a child, daydreaming and gazing out over the Brazilian coast, their first record harnesses the pure creativity of youth and nature, creating a magical sense of innocence amongst the striking compositions and astonishing musicianship.