Adson Vasconcelos dos Santos Junior "Pai de Santo"
Mestre Pai de Santo. A Bahian mestre and educator. On the drum since age five — from the legendary Timbalada to stages with Carlinhos Brown, Marisa Monte, Arnaldo Antunes and Olodum — he has trained more than a thousand students.
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Adson was born into music: he grew up in Salvador, in a family rooted in African-derived tradition. He started out in the sambas juninos and came up through the tambor do engenho and Olodum — Olodum Mirim, the youth group and the adult band — before joining the legendary Banda Timbalada in 1996, where he held the timbau chair until 2000. His Timbalada friends, above all Carlinhos Brown, gave him the nickname "Pai de Santo": a stage name, not a religious title.
He learned from his older brother, Tinho Pequeno of Timbalada, and from Cabo Del, Morotó, Mestre Prego, Neguinho do Samba, Luizinho do Jêje, Nilton Gago, Valdir Pedra Lascada, Almir Mão de Pedra and Carlinhos Brown.
He has shared stages with Carlinhos Brown, Marisa Monte, Arnaldo Antunes, Olodum and Lua Cheia. In the 2000s he co-founded the band Baianada with Alexandre Guedes and Wesley (formerly of Olodum). The band later became Motumbá, a name chosen by Adson and Alexandre Guedes, and featured guest appearances by Carlinhos Brown. He lived in Turkey for two years and has performed in 19 countries with the show groups Art Events, Copacabana Show and Brasil Tropical.
A teacher since his Salvador years (Ação Criança/FUNDAC), he moved to Brasília in 2012; more than a thousand public-school students have come through his classes, and hundreds more through Ijexá com Gana in Ceilândia. Today he leads the school Tudo Começa no Tambor at Cio das Artes and performs with Grupo Afirmação — from "Donde eu Vim" to Festa das Águas.
Instagram: @paidesanto_percussao
