Marco Campaniça & O Gajo
Free of charge
Marco Campaniça
Marco Vieira, also known as Marco Campaniça, was born in Oeiras, grew up in Macau and currently lives between Lisbon and the Alentejo.
Professional musician since 1996, he has made music the stage of his life, and the bass guitar his favourite way of expressing it.
He has been part of several musical projects, among which: North Pole, Mariária, WoodStone, The Same Ol’ Blues, Mina d’Água, 1-Uik Project, Komodo Wagon, Eletro Cordel, having recorded several discographic works.
Throughout his career he has received several distinctions, including: In 1999, with WoodStone, at the Festival Prémios Maquete 98 in Oporto, the band was awarded the prize A Hora do Lobo, given by António Sérgio, and was considered the best Rock band the following year, at the same festival.
In 2001, with The Same Ol’ Blues they win the Rui Veloso Award, at the Gaia Blues Festival and in 2006, with Polo Norte, the best live concert award, from Central FM. In 2008 and 2009, as member of Mariária, the band won the “Prémio SPA/Antena 1” and the 2nd place in the “International Songwriting Competition”, in the world music category.
His passion for Alentejo music awakened in 2000, after a performance with WoodStone at the Sudoeste Festival, in Zambujeira do Mar, in an unexpected, stunning and unforgettable encounter with the campaniça guitar.
Inspired by it, and motivated to perpetuate it, in 2013 he created the Escola de Música Tradicional Alentejana (Traditional Alentejo Music School), where he serves as director and teacher, having been the precursor of the Os Açordas, Os Cavaquinhos do Mira, Campaniça do Mira and Sons do Mira projects, thus involving students in the dissemination of this precious cultural heritage.
With a renewed perspective on traditional music, he sees in the recovery of the Viola Campaniça, a typical instrument of the Baixo Alentejo, an opportunity to combine tradition and contemporaneity!
Creative and innovative, Marco Vieira launches a new look on traditional music.
https://www.marcocampanica.com/
O Gajo
After 28 years in the Punk Rock circuit, João Morais chooses in 2016 a “Viola Campaniça” to express his art. This instrument with traditional Portuguese roots is thus a central figure in an instrumental project with Arabic and Mediterranean references in a new language for an old viola, which in its best tradition is reborn through the hands of O GAJO.
In 2017 arrives the first GAJO original record “Longe do Chão”, in 2019 comes the second “As 4 Estações d’O GAJO“, a four-part disc in 4 EP’s dedicated to 4 train stations in Lisbon. “Rossio” is released in winter, “Santa Apolónia” in spring, “Cais do Sodré” in summer and the year closes with “Alcântara-Terra“ in autumn. This is followed by regular performances around the country and concerts at the Eurosonic Festival in the Netherlands and the Reeperbahn Festival in Germany.
In March 2020 the pandemic stopped the concerts and almost all cultural activity, but it did not stop the creative capacity of O GAJO who, in response to that stop, plunged into the composition of a new album.
New ideas, new formulas and for the first time in a trio format, with Carlos Barretto on Double Bass and José Salgueiro on Percussion. The compositions thus gain a new dimension and take “Viola Campaniça” to new and more ambitious territories.
The new album “Subterrâneos” was released on March 15th by Rastilho Records.
http://www.ogajo.net
The concert is free of charge.