Fernando Brandao - flute

Luciana Araripe - mandolin

Chris Richards - violin

Adam Bahrami - cavaquinho

Tom Rohde - 6-string guitar

Jason Davis - 7-string guitar

Keita Ogawa - pandeiro and percussion

Gabriel Meireles - pandeiro

chorodemocratico.com

Approximately 40 years before urban samba became popular, and ~80 years before bossa nova, choro (pronounced “shoh-roh) and maxixe (“mah-shee-sheh) were two of the first musical styles to evolve as truly and authentically Brazilian.  Choro and maxixe are urban music styles that originated in the late 1800’s in Rio de Janeiro through the melding of Europeans dance forms, like the polka and waltz, and African lundus.

The traditional choro ensemble is formed of one or more solo instruments (flute, mandolin, clarinet and saxophone being the most common), the cavaquinho (four-string soprano guitar), one or more guitars and pandeiro (a tambourine-like hand drum). The cavaquinho plays harmony and rhythm; the guitar also plays harmony, but central to its role is playing improvised bass lines that create counterpoint to the main melody. These bass lines are played by a six- or seven-string guitar;  the latter is a typical instrument in the ensemble and takes the place of an acoustic bass.  The pandeiro keeps a steady time-feel pace with accented sixteenth-notes. 

 

Although the rhythm of the maxixe evolved from marching band music (with lundu and polka influences), its instrumentation is not limited to brass and percussion, and its repertoire is often performed by choro ensembles.  Further, in the late 19th century maxixe became a widely popular partner dance, and due to its highly sensual nature, had important social consequences.

 

In its 130 years, choro has gone through many phases, but like jazz, it has never died.  Today, choro is one of the most important and rich genres for musicians learning the vocabulary of Brazilian instrumental music.  The genre has had a strong and fertile period in the last 15 years.  Musicians like Altamiro Carrilho, Hamilton de Hollanda, Yamandú, Trio Madeira Brasil, Henrique Cazes, and the late Rafael Rabello are only a few of the names whose technique and musicianship are due to the foundations of choro music.  Ernesto Nazareth, Pixinguinha, Jacob do Bandolim, Radamés Gnátalli, Paulinho da Viola, Mauricio Carrilho and Guinga are essential choro composers.

 

Many years have passed since pianist Lyle Mays wrote his composition Chorinho, a wonderful piece based on the style, with his own creative take of melody, form and harmonic progression. Choro has since began to flourish in the US, with many new groups, musicians and writers who are getting attracted to the music: mandolinist Mike Marshall, composer Maria Schneider, clarinetis Anat Cohen, pianist Alon Yavnai, the NY Choro Ensemble, LA Choro Ensemble, mandolinist Marilynn Mair, multi-instrumentalist Ted Falcon, young guitarist Daniel Volovets, Daniela Thompson, and authors Tamara Elena Livingston-Isenhour and Thomas George Caracas Garcia (Choro: a social history of Brazilian popular music), to name a few.

And here we proudly have Boston's own Choro Democrático, a seven-piece instrumental ensemble that performs traditional and contemporary choros, maxixes, sambas and other Brazilian musical styles.

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