La Viva comprises four talented musicians with a wide repertoire covering Latin American, R&B, Caribbean, reggae, classic rock, blues and dance music.

This popular band was a fixture at Uncle Chilli's Fun Pub in PJ Hilton and have garnered many fans since with stints at various functions, hotels, clubs and bars.

La Viva is led by Alphonse Jerome on guitar and vocals, with bassist and singer Mathew Charles, keyboardist and singer Eddie and drummer Tony Jones.

Alphonse Jerome The founder of La Viva, Alphonse is an accomplished lead guitarist and vocalist. Alphonse started his career in music in Holland in 1988 and formed a local band called X'odus in 1990. He was a finalist in the 1992/1993 "Top-of-the-Pubs" and was invited to play at the Rhythm and Blues festival, Brussels in 1999. He arranges and composes his own music and also composes and sings on TV and radio commercials. His main music influences are Carlos Santana, Jimmy Hendrix, Jeff Beck and Bob Marley.

	Mathew Charles Bass guitarist and vocalist, Mathew once played for the MAS orchestra and MAS Combo. He has also played in major events in Europe, besides being a sessionist with various local recording artistes. Mathew counts among his major bass influences Alfonso Johnson, Marcus Miller and Marlon Dove. Mathew is the co-founder of La Viva.

Eddie Keyboardist and vocalist, Eddie has played with the Selangor Youth Wind Orchestra and was a percussionist with the Rakan Muda Orchestra. In six years, he has worked with various local recording artistes and composes and writes jingles -- one of which is the theme song for TV3's Business Programme.

	Tony Jones Tony was a student of the great Lewis Pragasam. He does a lot of session recordings and is one of the young and upcoming drummers in Malaysia.

(posted October 24, 2005)

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