Airto and Bacelar: 'Maracanós,' 2024-'25

The Brazilian pair unite for a thrilling, large-scale audio masterpiece

Airto Moreira has never thought small. The Brazilian percussionist has an extraordinary imagination and an outsized gift for rhythm. Rather than add flavor here and there, as most percussionists are called upon to do, he became the center of attention when he began recording as a leader in the early 1970s.

Beginning with Natural Feelings (1970), his fi…