José Manuel Yáñez Meira de Vasconcellos (born March 9, 1959, in

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital city, capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's Chilean Central Valley, central valley and is the center ...

), better known as Joe Vasconcellos, is a Chilean singer/songwriter and composer of

Latin rock Latin Rock is a term to describe a subgenre blending traditional sounds and elements of Latin American and Hispanic Caribbean folk with rock music. However, it is widely used in the English-language media to refer any kind of rock music featurin ...

, with influences of Latin American fusion and Brazilian popular music. He is the son of a Brazilian diplomat father and a Chilean mother. Early in his career, he worked as a singer in the prestigious band

Congreso () is a musical band from Chile. Founded in 1969 in Quilpué, the band has been highly acclaimed with over 50 years in Latin American music. The band is one of the most important bands in the history of Chilean music, both for its refined mu ...

(1980–1984) before having a successful solo career in the 1990s and 2000s.

Career

Early Career in ''Congreso'' (1980–1983)

Born in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, Vasconcellos lived in Italy for 20 years before returning to his mother's homeland. He promptly began working as a singer in bars in

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

, where he met Sergio "Tilo" González, Patricio Gonzalez, Hugo Pirovic, and Ernesto Holman of

. Vasconcellos began performed with Congreso from 1980 to 1983, during which he contributed to the recording of two albums, including ''Viaje por la cresta del mundo'' (1981) and ''Ha llegado carta'' (1983), and composed also one of the most emblematic songs of the band, "Hijo del sol luminoso" (Son of the Shining Sun). After ''Ha llegado carta'', Vasconcellos left the project in 1984 to seek new adventures in Brazil. Vasconcellos has said that he is very proud of his time with Congreso.

Consolidation as soloist (1997–2002)

In 1997, Vasconcellos launches ''Transformación'', a record that followed the line of ''Toque'' but with a little more sophistication and less

batucada Batucada () is a substyle of samba and refers to a percussive style, usually performed by an Musical ensemble, ensemble, known as a bateria. Batucada music is characterized by its syncopated style and fast pace with a marked rhythm. Originally fro ...

s. Their songs sounded on radio were more attached to the Toque, for example, "Preemergencia" and "Funa". As for the quality of their albums, Vasconcellos has failed to their studio recordings strength of their live performances. Maybe that was the starting point for ''Vivo'', the bestselling album in his career. The album was recorded during two concerts events in Teatro Providencia in the winter of 1999, and collected all musician hits, including "Hijo del sol luminoso", "Huellas" and a studio version for "La joya del Pacífico" recorded as a central theme for the TV series "Cerro Alegre" by Canal 13. This album grew positively bond with his audience, ultimately causing his invitation to 2000 Viña del Mar International Song Festival which was a resounding success. Joe then became one of the nation's premier artists and high artistic quality. Also that year he sold just over 130,000 copies. The success allowed the musician to grow in independence. He built a recording studio and grew their production office to give space also to work of other artists, such as Santo Barrio and La Floripondio they recorded their albums there in the new study Batuke. The difficult and overwhelming aspect of fame left the musician with no possibility of designing new songs for some time. Later work on the soundtrack of the Chilean film Taxi para tres, which was greatly appreciated by the single "Volante or Maleta". Also in the film, but this time in animation, Vasconcellos wrote several songs for the soundtrack of Ogu and Mampato in Rapa Nui (which was Chile's submission to the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

in 2002), in collaboration with the musician

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

Myth Manutomtoma.

Discography

With ''Congreso''

* 1981 - '' Viaje por la cresta del mundo'' * 1982 - '' Ha Llegado Carta''

As Soloist

* 1989 - '' Esto es sólo una canción'' * 1992 - '' Verde cerca'' * 1995 - '' Toque (album)'' * 1997 - '' Transformación'' * 2003 - '' En paz'' * 2005 - '' Banzai'' * 2007 - ''

Destino ''Destino'' is an animated surrealist short film released in 2003 by Walt Disney Animation Studios. ''Destino'' is unique in that its production originally began in 1945 (five years after the release of Fantasia), 58 years before its eventual ...

'' * 2014 - '' Llamadas''

Live albums and compilations

* 1999 - '' Vivo'' * 2001 - '' Taxi para tres'' * 2002 - '' Ogu and Mampato in Rapa Nui'' * 2003 - ''Al mal tiempo buena cara'' * 2007 - ''Joe Vasconcellos en tour'' * 2008 - ''Destino (Álbum + DVD)'' * 2009 - ''Mágico - Grandes Éxitos'' * 2009 - ''Mágico - El Recital (DVD)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasconcellos, Joe 1959 births Living people 20th-century Chilean male singers Chilean male guitarists 21st-century Chilean male singers Chilean male singer-songwriters Chilean singer-songwriters Chilean people of Brazilian descent Brazilian people of Chilean descent 20th-century Chilean male artists