Mauricio Maestro & Nana Vasconcelos

Brazilian greats Mauricio Maestro and Nana Vasconcelos finally reconnect on the second part of their five decade psychedelic folk trilogy. Following Visions of Dawn –the 1976 acid-folk lost classic – Upside Down is a special new recording that stirs up a time when people dared to make liberated records. Nana and guest vocalist Kay Lyra – completing the modern folk trio – combine floating harmonies & delicate psychedelia. Maestro’s moving compositions melt together hypnotising strings with his darting guitar and wonderfully languid vocals. The master of percussion Nana Vasconcelos brings an endless concoction of exotic instrumentation to stirring life as mind-bending vocals move in and out of focus.

Mauricio Maestro began his career in vocal quartet Momentoquatro in the late 60s before he and Nana became friends in the great Luiz Eça’s thirteen member band Sagrada Familia. The pair were also part of Milton Nascimento’s Clube De Esquina scene along with Far Out’s Joyce and Marcos Valle. Having arranged for Brazil’s top artists Mauricio Maestro lent his masterful bass playing to: Joyce’s classic early albums; The Holy Family; played on and produced ‘Visions of Dawn’; and founded Boca Livre in 1979. Nana Vasconcelos has released more than 30 albums over a forty year career that took in a spell playing with legendary folk-prog band A Tribo. Vasconcelos is a vocalist and berimbau player of immense quality and displays his percussion skills that saw him named best drummer in the world for eight straight years by US magazine Downbeat.