Mahtrak - Panorama

In 1995, Cris Oliveira and Fabio César, which were then part of Magna, invited Paulo Viana to join their band. They released an EP, did some gigs and split after two years. The musicians moved on to several musical projects till they met again in 2000 and decided to form Solarshift, a progressive rock trio with classical and jazz rock influences. Solarshift was getting some material ready to start the production of their first album when, on a rehearsal, they met guitarist Antonio Rodrigues. As consequence of that the four of them started jamming during those rehearsals, and those jams built into some new and exciting material, which led to a decision: they'd take that direction and this new band would be called Mahtrak. For the next two years they worked heavily on new compositions. In 2004 Mahtrak started the recording of their first CD, PANORAMA. All of them did their best to make sure that the production sounded true to the vintage sound from the seventies, as well as the essential elements to the genre: sharp compositions, improvisation, vigorous bass and drums and breathtaking guitar and keyboard solos. Though they were influenced by the great jazzrock names from the seventies - specially bands such as Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, The Eleventh House, Soft Machine, Passport, and musicians such as Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Jeff Beck, Al di Meola, George Duke, Billy Cobham and several others - Mahtrak has a style of their own, and the tracks you're listening to showcase very well the personality of each member. When the production of PANORAMA ended the musicians turned their attention to other projects. In 2006 Cris Oliveira, Paulo Viana and Fabio César returned their activity with Solarshift and a debut CD is now being produced - it presents original material and features also a chamber orchestra playing with the band. Fabio César also plays bass in the hard rock band King Bird and recorded their second CD, SUNSHINE, released in 2008. This work had also Paulo Viana as special guest. In 2009, Mahtrak has reformed with new guitarrist Fred Berlowitz to support the release of Panorama. Since then the band has been rehearsing regularly and preparing new material for their second CD.