History pulses from this 3CD set, a 1970s talent-fest mind-boggling in scope and as fresh and relevant as it ever was. There's always been something of the shaman about drummer and percussionist Moreira, a man born into a family of folk healers in southern Brazil and a professional musician from the age of 13, showcasing his talent as a 26-year-old alongside flautist Hermeto Pascoal in Quarteto Novo, on an eponymous groundbreaking album. That was in 1967, and Moreira and his wife Flora Purim left soon after for New York, where the former worked with Joe Zawinul before finding favour with new jazz-fusionist, Miles Davis, and playing with Weather Report then Chick Corea, who features on his own latin jazz classic ‘Return To Forever’ on Free Produced by Creed Taylor and released on his CTI label, Free features an all-star jazz line-up of historical proportions, variously featuring bassist Ron Carter, George Benson on guitar and Keith Jarrett, playing his well-known composition, ‘Lucky Southern’. Free feels precisely that, a panoramic snapshot of a developing career and a document of evolving jazz-fusion. Second album Identity, then released on Arista, has Herbie Hancock producing and playing Arp synth, and the likes of Wayne Shorter and Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Egberto Gismonti on board, with Purim (then making a US name for herself) and Moreira contributing vocals; tracks vary in tempo, but never in quality. The berimbau, one of Moreira's signature instruments, seems to channel something ancient, especially on Promises of the Sun, the last album in the trio and the most overtly Brazilian, which features the golden tones of Milton Nascimento and the wildness, you feel, that sits at Moreira's core. Together, they trace a trajectory and underscore the crazy talent that is Moreira, who, aged 77, shows no sign of stopping.