Joe Vasconcellos

José Manuel Yáñez Meira de Vasconcellos, or simply Joe Vasconcellos, is a Chilean singer-songwriter and composer who is known for incorporating a vast array of influences from Brazilian music into his work. Born on March 9, 1959, in Santiago de Chile, to a Chilean mother and a Brazilian diplomat father, he lived in Italy until he turned 20, after which he returned to his native country and joined the Latin American fusion band Congreso in 1979. After releasing three critically acclaimed albums with the group and writing one of their biggest hits, "Hijo del Sol Luminoso" (1981), Joe Vasconcellos left for Brazil in 1984, where he served as a backing musician for the likes of María Creuza, Geraldo Azevedo, and Zizi Possi. Recorded in Brazil but only released in Chile, his studio debut Esto No Es Solo una Canción saw the light in 1989. Following his return to Chile in 1992, he assembled the backing band Favela and issued the LP Verde Cerca later that year, which featured a strong social and ecological message combined with different rhythms from across Latin America. This is especially evident on the track "Huellas," which would go on to become one of his signature songs. Decidedly more Brazilian-oriented than his previous effort, 1995's Toque became his breakthrough album thanks to singles like "Mágico," "Solo Por Esta Noche," and "Sed de Gol." Joe Vasconcellos continued his exploration of Latin American music over the following decades on the LPs Transformación (1997), En Paz (2003), Banzai (2005), Destino (2007), as well as on the EP trilogy Llamadas between 2014 and 2018. The live album Huellas, Una Vida en Vivo appeared in 2020.

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