Brazilian Summer Sessions Nelson Latif (Brazilian Cavaquinho player) Nelson Latifis a Brazilian cavaquinho player and guitarist, who lives both in Brazil and Amsterdam and pointed me to a great Roda de Samba e Choro which is scheduled as part of the Brazilian Summer Sessionsduring the summer season in the Bimhuis in Amsterdam, the 2nd of July, 2011. Nelson Latif forwarded a small introduction about what a Roda de Choro is and he loved to share it with you at this Choro-music blog, which celebrates its 5th birthday this month.
A roda de samba e choro(photo courtesy Nelson Latif) The Rodas de Samba e Choro are informal and unpredictable events, where musicians gather in a circle around a table to improvise samba and chorinho, combining personal and collective flair. A roda de samba e choro(photo courtesy Nelson Latif) From the raw drumming to the refined choro, from candomblé to capoeira, the roda is the most primordial format of the Brazilian cultural manifestations, a direct heritage of the Brazilian African roots.
The rodas de samba serve as schools for many Brazilian musicians as an open space where singers challenge each other, talent turns into legend, composers try out new creations and the Brazilian music renews itself. A roda de samba e choro(photo courtesy Nelson Latif)
In the Brazilian Summer Sessions 2011, musicians from both nationalities will interpret traditional and modern themes and styles. Singers and musicians from existing groups – or meeting for the first time – will bring to the Dutch audience the flavor and mood of this so important Brazilian way of experience popular music. Nelson Latif and friends Contact Choro music in the Netherlands: There are but few venues in The Netherlands where you can enjoy an original Brazilian Roda de Choro. In Rotterdam Marijn Van Der Linden organized two times a month ( the first and third Sunday) a Roda de choro in Taberna Tia Piri Piri and the 't Syndicaat in The Hague seems also a venue with regular Choro concerts. Please inform about the dates to come. This Summer Nelson Latif organizes a roda de samba e choro at the Bimhuis in Amsterdam. The concert has veen scheduled the 2nd of July, 2011. Hans Koert keepswinging@live.nl Deze bijdrage wordt ook gepubliceerd op de Keep Swinging blog.
This month it has been 5 years since the Choro-Music blogspot started. Co-editor of the blog and manager of the Keepswinging Website, Hans Koert, took the initiative to start the blog and persuaded me to contribute with entries on the music, we both share a passion for: the Brazilian choro. The actual background of the blog was the dvd-release of Mika Kaurismäkki's documentary 'Brasileirinho - Choro in Rio', which put us on the trail of exploring this fascinating music gradually by posting info on (some of) its story, performers and practice. As there wasn't a blog already dealing with choro - at least not in the English language, we thought it a good idea to select info in English to feed non-Portuguese speaking readers with our findings to support an interest in choro - as a small follow-up of Kaurismäkki's great documentary. We are fully aware that our knowledge on the subject is limited and may be considered insufficient compared to the works of serious scholars, our main intention has been and still is just to share our passion for the music with readers, who are looking for easily digestable info in English on different aspects of the Brazilian choro. This way the Choro-Music blogspot also could be labeled 'our choro' - in Portuguese: Nosso Choro - considering the fact that the entries always have a personal bias that we do not intend to hide, however, it should be to the benefit of the music or aspect of choro in focus, we hope.
To mark the 5 year anniversary of the choro-music blog I like to point you to a great cd by two European musicians. The cd, shown above, is properly titled 'Nosso Choro' and was released 2009 by Emmeciesse records. The fourteen tracks on the disc are performed by pianist Ivan Tibolla and Stefano Scutari, who plays both bandolim and violão - Tibolla also contributes on accordion, flute and percussion besides piano on some tracks that have overdub. Both performers are Italians, well-known and highly respected musicians on the contemporary Italian music scene. The 'Nosso Choro' cd is their first co-work dedicated to the Brazilian choro, both musicians are active in other fields of music as well.
According to a MySpace-profile, Ivan Tibolla was born in Belluno in 1975. He graduated as organ player and in organ music composition at the Academy of Music “B. Marcello” in Venice. After that he studied music composition as well as music improvisation. In the last few years he has come closer to the world of jazz and performs as a pianist participating in various settings and also has his own trio specializing in experimental jazz. Ivan Tibolla has his own website (- in Italian only) including dicography.
Stefano Scutari was born in Venice 1950 and had his first musical experiences with various rock bands in the sixties, later he began to lean towards classical guitar, studying with Tommaso de Nardis, a teacher in the “Benedetto Marcello” Conservatory in Venice. He then took part in various jazz guitar seminars held by a variety of different musicians (John Abercrombie, John Scofield, Larry Corryell a.o.). Lastly, he went on to develop a specific interest in Brazilian music, travelling often to Brazil where he was able to meet and play with musicians such as Sebastião Tapajos, Horondino Silva (Dino 7 cordas), Nana Vasconcelos, and others. He has headed a column on Brazilian music in an Italian magazine and has also recorded cds on his own. A profile including music samples is available at MySpace.
The mentioned 'Nosso Choro' cd contains the duo's renditions of classic choros such as "Tico tico no fúba", "Chochiando" and "Lamentos", Scutari has solo violão interpretations of "Sons de Carilhões" and "Odeon", but plays the bandolim in interplay with Tibolla. A selection of compositions by Jacob de Bandolim - "Doce de Coco", "Flamengo", "Santa Morena", "A Ginga do Manè" and "Noites Cariocas" - get a fair interpretation by the duo with elaborate improvisation by Tibolla showing off his jazzinfluence. Further, a solo reading of "Choro Pra Bisconce" - a choro composed by Tibolla; Scutari also has a couple of compositions, "Concolacao" and "Vals Sem Nome", performed on solo violão. And there is an example of the forró influence, "Lèo Estante", a composition by Tibolla, which has him playing accordion and percussion besides piano in overdub. The overall impression of the performed music is engaging and a great experience, a nice example of how the Brazilian choro is interpretated by two very skilled European musicians, highly recommended. - The cd may still be available from retailers, the tracks may also be purchased at iTunes, click here
Choro originated in Rio de Janeiro during the late 19. Century and soon spread all over Brazil thanks to the emergency of radio and record companies documenting the evolvement of this unique Brasilian music style. Choro had its hey days during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, when musicians and artists excelling in this kind of music were supported and encouraged by national programs of the government, however, a decline in interest of the public during the 1950s and 1960s threatened to leave the choro in oblivion. A revitalization of choro music was established in the 1970s through TV-sponsored nation-wide festivals, which attracted a new, younger generation of musicians. Thanks in great part to these efforts, choro music remains strong in Brazil today and the contemporary scene of choro musicians is as vital as ever.- A panorama of the contemporary choro scene in São Paulo has recently been produced and documented through a project initiated by local musicians, Roberta Valente and Yves Finzetto. The project was supported and covered by the State Secretariat of Culture of São Paulo and has resulted in a cd-recording and a concert program documenting the vitality of the contemporary choro scene in São Paulo. The project has its official website, to be accessed here
The aim of the project, named Panorama do Choro Paulistano Contemporâneo, was to bring notable local choro musicians from different generations together and invite them to produce new and original material for a cd-recording headed by a sextet especially selected for the project. The Sexteto Panorama (shown above) comprises of Alexandre Ribeiro (clarinet and bass clarinet), Gian Correa (violão sete cordas), Henrique Araujo (cavaquinho and bandolim), John Poleto (sax and flute), Roberta Valente (pandeiro, percussion) and Yves Finzetto (percussion). In total, thirty musicians have been involved in the recording of sixteen new compositions by Alessandro Penezzi, Arnaldinho Silva, Danilo Brito, Edmilson Capelupi, Edson José Alves, Everson Pessoa, Israel Bueno de Almeida, Izaías Bueno de Almeida, João Poleto, Laércio de Freitas, Luizinho 7 cordas, Maurílio de Oliveira, Milton Mori, Nailor Proveta, Ruy Weber, Thiago França, Toninho Ferragutti and Zé Barbeiro. Each of the sixteen tracks has guest performance of the composer with support by members of the initial sextet, the result of this co-operation is outstanding, a marvellous example of the diversity and vitality of the contemporary choro scene in São Paulo. All sixteen tracks are available in streaming audio at the official website of the project including detailed info on participating musicians, clickhere - Unfortunately, I have not found info on how and where to purchase the cd, but it may be announced later at the website, until then I recommend taking time to enjoy the published streaming audio in full length. - In March the cd project was presented at a concert performance with participation of all involved in the project, a part of the concert has been recorded and uploaded on YouTube. Below I'll insert a couple of the uploaded videos from the event. First, here is the initial Sexteto Panorama performing the classic "Tico-tico no fúba"
From the final of the concert all participating musicians are on stage performing the same tune - enjoy this and the available streaming audio at the official website of Panorama do Choro Paulistano Contemporâneo
On the 4th of September 2000 an official document of the government in Brasil announced the 23th of April asDia Nacional do Choro, the date was chosen in honor of choro icon Alfredo da Rocha Viana Filho, better known as Pixinguinha, (April 23, 1897 - February 7, 1973). Choro Day is celebrated on Pixinguinha's birthday - not only in Brasil, but it has become a tradition all over the world where Brasilian culture is an integrated part of local festivites. I recommend to check out local media for info about arrangements in your area. - Here we will celebrate Choro Day by inserting some videos featuring music by Pixinguinha - hope you to enjoy
From a live performance at Instrumental SESC Brasil earlier this year Trio Madeira Brasil - Ronaldo do Bandolim (bandolim), Zé Paulo Becker (violão), Marcelo Gonçalvez (violão 7 cordas) - plays "Cochichando"
From a live performance at Instrumental SESC Brasil last year Danilo Brito (bandolim) and his conjunto - Luizinho 7 Cordas (violão 7 cordas), Alexandre Ribeiro (clarinet), João Camarero (violão), Milton Mori (cavaco), Rafael Toledo (pandeiro) - play "Ingênuo"
Finally, from the same live concert Danilo Brito and conjunto perform "Um a Zero"
Earlier this month Ademilde Fonseca (b 1921), 'The Queen of Choro', turned 90 years old - an event that we also like to mark at this blog. Ademilde Fonseca was one of the first vocalists to actually sing choro, a remarkable contribution to this mostly instrumental genre of Brazilian music. She had her debut as a recording vocalist 1942 with "Tico-tico no fúba" - the well known composition by Zequinha Abreu with added lyrics by Eurico Barreiros accompanied by the regional/conjunto of Benedito Lacerda, a smash hit, which granted her the title 'Queen of Choro'. During the 1940s and 1950s she consolidated her success with vocal versions of popular choros and related music of the time, and she performed and recorded regularly with the cream of Brazilian top-musicians - even after her 80 years of age. A selection of her 78 rpm records is available at Instituto Moreira Sales and a discography of this output may be accessed here. - We have earlier published a career profile in English, still available here.
Ademilde Fonseca's 90 years anniversary and 70 years in show-business was celebrated in a TV hommage presented by journalist and music critic Tárik de Souza on the program MPBambas at Canal Brazil some days ago, and there has also been arranged a tribute concert in Rio with participation of choro musicians and 'The Queen of Choro' herself. Unfortunately, no video documentation of these events has been uploaded yet, but I found a video from an earlier performance featuring Ademilde Fonseca and Eimar Delvino Barreto in a vocal duet singing "Tico-tico no fúba" - enjoy it below!
It's great to know that choro music has been enriched by the vocal contributions of a great artist still going strong. Congratulations, Ademilde Fonseca!
Brazilian Summer Sessions
A roda de samba e choro (photo courtesy Nelson Latif)
A roda de samba e choro (photo courtesy Nelson Latif)
A roda de samba e choro (photo courtesy Nelson Latif)
