A week of Choro

Diving deep inside a unique Brazilian musical language

Hello folks,

My apologies for the delay in posting here. I spent all of last week in the beautiful town of Port Townsend, WA, as one of the faculty members at the Centrum Choro Northwest Workshop. Along with clarinetist Anat Cohen, saxophonist/flutist Daniela Spielmann, mandolinist Dudu Maia, 7-string guitarist Douglas Lora and percussionist Alexandre Lora, we worked daily with the participants giving them rhythmic warm-up sessions, instrumental masterclasses and ensemble coaching, while surrounded by the gorgeous nature of the Olympic Peninsula.

Two views of madrona tree and Alexander’s Castle, Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA. Photos by Jovino Santos Neto

Alexandre Lora, JSN, Dudu Maia, Daniela Spielmann, Anat Cohen and Douglas Lora enjoying the Pacific Northwest sunshine.

I have been teaching at this workshop since 2011, even during the pandemic, when we held online sessions. It is very rewarding to see participants of all levels deepen their knowledge of choro music over the years. This language blends European forms and harmonies with an African syncopation, creating a sound that has shaped the music of Brazil for over 100 years.

There were lots of jam sessions (rodas) and the excitement of being immersed in music all day long culminated with a faculty concert on Friday night and a bandão (big band) performance featuring all participants on Saturday night. Here is a video of my arrangement of Jacob do Bandolim’s Doce de Coco, featuring an intro by Roberta Downey on cello:

Below is a snippet of a rhythm warm-up led by Alexandre Lora, where everyone joins in playing percussion and feeling the power of a circle of musicians of all ages sharing a groove:

Here’s a view of Fort Worden State Park, where the Choro Workshop was held. This is where the film An Officer And A Gentleman was filmed:

Fort Worden State Park. Photo by Jovino Santos Neto.

For me, this is the perfect combination of music and nature. To be able to spend a whole week making music and enjoying the beautiful spring weather is a deep healing experience.

Even after returning to Seattle we still had one more opportunity to savor the choro vibes. Dudu Maia, Douglas Lora and Alenxandre Lora (aka Trio Brasileiro) played a great concert on Monday night at Seattle’s Town Hall, and I was there as well, joining them for 3 tunes on melodica. Here’s a short clip of their concert:

At the end it was a big pleasure to be applauded by the more than 300 folks at the concert:

I hope you will consider joining me for next year’s Centrum Choro Northwest Workshop.

Thanks for your ongoing support!

Obrigado,

Jovino