Naná Vasconcelos

In the summer of '83 a nine days festival of music from the Brazilian state of Bahia was held in Rome, in the fascinating and ancient scenery of the Circo Massimo. The city of Salvador de Bahia itself is called by the Brazilians as "Roma negra" (black Rome), for the baroque style of his many churches and buildings and for being the ancient heart of the country, home of the Afro-brazilian culture.

Among the many artists that appeared there Naná Vasconcelos did an amazing performance.
Naná was born actually in Recife, capital of Pernambuco, another north-eastern state of Brazil, and it is known for being a virtuoso percussionist and for having played with a great number of both rock and jazz artists. The music of his solo works is closer to avantgarde-jazz and world music than to other typical Brazilian styles.
In Rome he hypnotyzed the audience playing an excerpt from Africadeus, the long instrumental track that gives the title to his debut album of 1972. Using only a berimbau, an instrument of the north-eastern Brazilian folklore, and his voice, he seems like a shaman that awakes and gives voice to ancestral spirits.
This performance, like many others from the festival, is included in the beautiful documentary Bahia De Todos Os Sambas, an Italo-Brazilian co-production. The clip has been ripped, with great difficulties (that's why I offer only this one), from a VHS released in Italy in the year 2000. I think the movie has been published on DVD only in Brazil.

Naná Vasconcelos - Africadeus (1983)

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