Photo Credit: Maria Bacelar
The dazzling “Maracanós” album, released on April 24, 2026 on CD and vinyl formats, as well as available worldwide in all streaming services by the Jasmin Music label, brings together legendary percussionist, drummer and composer Airto Moreira and pianist, composer, and producer Ricardo Bacelar. Together, they co-wrote all the fascinating eight songs on the album.
In April 2026, Airto was honored with the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts - the highest official recognition dedicated to jazz in the United States. The distinction is granted to artists whose contributions have had an exceptional impact on the development of the jazz language over decades, placing the Brazilian musician among the most influential figures in the history of the genre.
Creative freedom is what drives Airto Moreira, who moved to the USA in 1968 and went on to perform and record with such legends as Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Keith Jarrett, Santana, Jaco Pastorius, Al Di Meola, Stan Getz, George Benson, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Mickey Hart, Paul Simon, Tina Turner and Joni Mitchell, among many others.
“The fact that I’ve played with these giants is a sign that I’ve always been open to creativity. You have to trust your musical instincts to create, without getting in your own way or interfering with others. I have always trusted mine since childhood,” says the Grammy-nominee Airto, who won the “Percussion” category in both DownBeat Readers and Critics Polls over 20 times. Actually, Airto’s impact on music was so significant that the “Percussion” category in the DownBeat polls was created in his honor in 1973, following his rise in the jazz fusion scene in the early 1970s.
The recording of “Maracanós” took place between 2024 and 2025, as Ricardo Bacelar explains: “Airto came to Jasmin Studio on two occasions. The first time, he was accompanied by singer Flora Purim. We recorded the single “Aqui, Oh!” (released in August 2025), another album not yet released, and a feature-length film, currently in production, that documented the entire recording process of the forthcoming album. During their second trip to Fortaleza, where my studio is located, Airto and I composed and recorded Maracanós. The idea for the album was born during the filming of the documentary, and it was a very happy time for everyone, we had wonderful moments”.
For Airto Moreira, widely regarded as the father of contemporary percussion, the entire process was deeply inspiring: “I’m very happy with everything that happened. The studio is wonderful, it has everything we need to make a first-class recording. I was also able to use my voice quite a bit. Sometimes i sing for a few seconds when I’m not playing. For me, it felt like a bed where I could lie down, create, and rest at the same time.”
Voted as Best Jazz Singer for five consecutive years (1974–1978) in DownBeat Readers Poll, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira’s musical and life partner since the late 1960s, makes a special vocal appearance on the track “Voo da Tarde.”
With a bold aesthetic approach, “Maracanós” explores unconventional paths, combining acoustic instruments and synthesizers to create a sonic architecture that balances improvisation, harmonic density, and timbral experimentation. Creativity and freedom guided the making of the album, according to Ricardo Bacelar, who also produced the project: “I wanted to honor the freedom and experimentation that are so present in Airto and Flora’s music, their own history. I fused acoustic music with percussion, strings, and electronic textures, giving the album originality and a highly immersive character that moves away from the commercial model commonly found in today’s music industry.”
“Maracanós” also features the Kalimera String Quartet, from Rio de Janeiro, on two tracks, with arrangements by Liduíno Pitombeira, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Music. The result is a work that departs from predictable formats, exploring structural freedom and spontaneous interaction among the musicians.
Regarding the feature film directed by filmmaker Jom Tob Azulay, the project that originated the album Maracanós, Bacelar adds: “The film is in its final stage of production, and we expect to release it in the second half of this year. It’s a remarkable document that shows how Airto and Flora remain brilliant and unpredictable, with the same creativity and freedom in the way they approach music.”
The album’s visual identity further underscores its conceptual depth. The cover artwork, by Brazilian artist Fernando França, symbolizes the cultural fusion between Brazil and Africa, echoing the album’s musical dialogue across traditions and influences.
Released by Jasmin Music—Bacelar’s own label known for its collaborations with leading figures in Brazilian music such as Toninho Horta, Gilberto Gil, Roberto Menescal, Leila Pinheiro and Flavio Venturini, among many others—Maracanós emerges as a distinctive and adventurous work, celebrating artistic freedom, cross-cultural exchange, and the enduring vitality of contemporary jazz.
“Maracanós” tracklist:
1.Pé no Chão
2.Mestre Novo da Guiné
3.Bumbo Meu Boi
4.Voo da Tarde
5.Maracanós
6.Submersivos
7.Tres Minutos de Paz
8.Pau Rolou
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://jasminmus.com/en/home-en
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