When Trio Brasileiro launch into a song, their joy and energy make their pride as ambassadors for the choro music of their native Brazil palpable.
Their fleet fingerpicking might remind North American audiences of a musical virtuosity often associated with bluegrass, but that merely scratches the surface.
Choro is among the Western Hemisphere’s longest continuously surviving musical forms. Its cultural history stretches back to the 19th Century and contains a complex mix of musical traditions. As Pop Matters once put it, “choro is one vast compendium of cerebral riffs, dueling instruments, and idiosyncratic talents.”
That is to say it’s folk, it’s urbane, it’s organic, and it allows for far-reaching improvisation without losing its recognizable form.
Trio Brasileiro are among the finest performers of choro today. Their 2017 album Rosa Dos Ventos (recorded with Israeli clarinetist Anat Cohen) received a Grammy nomination for Best World Music Album. The album was also named one of the top twenty jazz recordings of the year in the Downbeat Magazine Readers’ Poll.
Swallow Hill Music is proud to present Trio Brasileiro in Daniels Hall on Saturday May 5, 2018 at 8 p.m.
Colorado’s bluegrass stalwarts Wood Belly, who are also known for fleet fingerpicking, will open the show, placing two musical genres known to celebrate musical virtuosity on the same stage on the same night.