Joe Vasconcellos

Joe Vasconcellos is the most popular musician in Chile today. Born in Chile to a Chilean mother and Brazilian father, he spent his youth in Italy listening to and DJing Brazilian music. He returned to his homeland in the late 70s and soon joined the legendary jazz-roots band Congreso. A mix of Brazilian rhythms with politically charged lyrics, his crossover success, from a folk musician to becoming one of the highest selling artists in the country, has proven the power of his urban, social and ecological songs. After a string of hit albums, his live greatest hits album ''Vivo'' went gold in 2000, and he has since received numerous awards including being knighted by the Brazilian government, which distinguished him with the Order of Rio Branco for his support through his music of the integration between Chile and Brazil. In 2004 he made his first ever very successful tour of the US (debuting at HotHouse in Chicago), and 2005 has seen his music appearing in three major motion pictures in Chile, as well as being the theme song to a hit reality show, as he finishes up his latest album. His contemporary musical synthesis, rising as the result of an incredible life experience and a sincere vision (regional and at the same time universal), fit perfectly in the Chile of the 1990´s, a society that was re-finding its roots, re-locating itself in the region and connecting itself with the world. Day by day he is more and more representative, in his eclecticism, of the musical crossbreeding possessed by countries like Chile. In that resides the secret of his local success as well as the attraction of his music for other countries and peoples of the world.In 2005 Joe Vasconcellos released his latest album, Banzai, to great success in Chile. The album will be released in March 2006 in Spain.
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