November 1999

O CHÔRO:
Part Two
ÉPOCA DE OURO and BEYOND

all materials ©1999 Richard Boukas
except where indicated

November 1999

O CHÔRO:
ÉPOCA DE OURO and BEYOND Part Two

by Richard Boukas © 1999

It is mid-August and I’m in Seattle to record my first Duo CD with pianist-composer Jovino Santos Neto. Slated for early 2K release, the acoustic project will feature all our original music and select repertoire by Hermeto Pascoal. Pé de Moleque, the Quartet Jovino and I have with bassist Nilson Matta and drummer Paulo Braga will be performing quite a bit this fall and are gearing up to record in the near future. Please refer to contact information at the end of this article and my JJG ad in this issue for more details.

Other new recordings of note include two guitar releases from the U.S.-based Brazilian Jazz label Malandro (see JJG May 99): a long-awaited solo guitar effort from master Paulinho Nogueira, a father of the instrument alongside Garôto, Bonfá, Reis and Baden Powell; then the long-awaited release from guitarist-vocalist phenom Filó Machado. Filó and his brother Celso (who lives in Vancouver) are real innovators as players and composers.

I had the pleasure of meeting and guest performing with Celso in Toronto this summer and had a blast. I hope to do a JJG feature on the Irmãos Machado in future issues.

Other exciting news for JJG readers and Brazilian guitar fans- I have just confirmed for the Feb 2K issue an exclusive interview with Paulo Bellinati, who alongside Sebastião Tapajós, Marco Pereira, Ulisses Rocha and the late Raphael Rabello has defined contemporary solo Brazilian guitar and composition as we know it today. We will talk about his fantastic playing, rich solo compositions (with notated excerpts) and preparation of the authoritative editions of Garôto’s solo works for GSP.

Finally, I want to thank all our readers for the positive feedback on my column and other feature articles like the 8/99 Johnny Smith tribute. Some have inquired why my articles do not have TAB. With space at such a premium, I seek to present as much music as possible to accompany the articles. TAB reduces my capability to do that by 50% and can obscure important stylistic aspects of the music.

Note that as of this issue, all of my JJG articles will be up on my website and include Adobe Acrobat files for all the musical examples.They are in PDF format and are downloadable on Mac or PC platforms.

Last issue we explored the historical and cultural origins of Chôro, its key stylistic traits and the three primary textural elements as they were revealed in the seminal piano works of Ernesto Nazareth :

• melody: 1/16 note movement, frequent syncopated rhythmic modules, Romantic period chromaticism

• accompaniment: comping figures derived from the habanera and maxixe, improvised group approach

• bassline: balance of harmonic function and frequent melodic fills at melodic phrase endings (embordão)

We then looked at some of the founding fathers of chôro composition, including Pixinguinha (the second generation after Nazareth ) and solo guitar pioneers Dilermando Reis and Garôto.

These early solo pieces showed how these three textural elements integrated into self-contained solo guitar settings. Some right-hand classical technique, a strong but fluid rhythmic sense and keen attention to articulation and dynamics is required to delineate these elements effectively.

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In this column we will get right to the music with detailed transcriptions from the third important generation of chôro player/composers referred to as Época de Ouro or "Golden Era", circa 1945-70. Just after the war, expanded opportunities for recordings and radio broadcasts led to the development of a more polished, professional chôro ensemble known as the regional, (local musicians who played for various acts as they passed through town). This generation showed a more refined approach to arranging- codifying background parts and fills normally left to the players’ taste much as with our Jazz rhythm section.

Probably the most famous regional in Rio of this period was headed by mandolinist Jacob do Bandolim, and sidekicks Dino Sete-Cordas (Horondino da Silva, seven-string guitar) and Cesar Faria (six-string guitar and arranger). Other standout players of the period wereWaldyr Azevedo (cavaquinho) and the lesser known but heralded mandolinist Luperce Miranda. These classic Jacob/Dino recordings were reissued recently on David Grisman’s AcousticDisc label on two jam-packed CD’s which prior to that point were available only through obscure French RCA sources.

Although these classic recordings are missing a bit of the feverish spontaneity known to live chôro playing, they are brilliant and elegant documents of this period and required listening for anyone interested in this style.

Their individual and collective performances are still the benchmark for chôro recordings to date.

the Sete Cordas: A Bassline with Heart

Previously the job of the tuba (in Pixinguinha’s symphonic bands) or six-string guitar (in regional), the all-important bassline element was now played by the seven-string sete-cordas and its recognized innovator Dino. This was a classical body and fingerboard using a hybrid of string types from low to high as follows:

C E A D G B C=cello nickel (tomastik);
E A D G = Diamond flatwounds (Germany)
B E = nylon trebles

Dino, now a young 81, still plays the same guitar he used to record with Jacob 50 years ago. He plays basslines with a custom metal thumbpick using all downstrokes and extensive left-hand slurring in the lower positions, using open strings wherever possible. Whatever secondary comping he did at the same time was done by (i,m,a) fingers on the top four strings.

Dino’s basslines transcended their primary harmonic function, evolving into a true Romantic melodic conversation with the main theme played by Jacob. The most active movement (embordão, lit. sewing) occurs typically at the ends of melodic phrases- which coincide also harmonically with the seams of chôro’s symmetrical and predictable phrase structures.

It should be pointed out that the melodic character of Dino’s basslines in the regional
is quite different from the written contrapunto in the chôros by Pixinguinha. Supported already by a separate tuba bassline, the contrapunto were played by his tenor saxophone in the middle register and tended to outline harmonies with broken 1/16^th-note arpeggios rather than be scalar.

Anatomy of A Seamster
and Regional Texture

In having to cover the primary harmonic function and the moving sense of contrapunto at the same time, Dino’s lines are clearly much more scalar in profile. They transport Nazareth/Chopin’s Romantic thematic roots from the treble to bass register, using extensive chromatic passing and neighbor (approach) tones. This strong melodic/scalar approach results in the frequent use of inversion notes in the bass (3rd,5th, or 7th of the chord) which disguises even the most basic of harmonic progressions. Their effect is especially dramatic when the goal note of a long embordão lands on the 3^rd or 7^th of a new harmonic phrase’s first chord. In Fig 1, a transcription of Pixinguinha’s classic Ingênuo, just look at the 4^th bar of every phrase and watch Dino do his magic.

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Melodic Interpretation in Chôro

Although there is usually no real "blowing on changes" in typical chôro performance practice, one of its most overlooked and truly improvisational aspects is the personalized melodic interpretations of common repertoire analogous to a Jazz player’s treatment of standard tunes with chromatic approach tones and other Bebopisms. With a vast body of repertoire committed to memory, the chorão keeps the music fresh with spontaneous rephrasings and the endless variations used in comping and sete cordas basslines.

The transcription of Ingênuo in Fig 1 is an interesting two-fold study. First we have Dino’s master class in sete cordas playing for the chôro lento (samba canção or ballad similar to the Afro-Cuban bolero); second, we have Jacob do Bandolim’s interpretation of Pixinguinha’s original melody laid one on top of the other.

Not unlike Jazz interpretations of standards, we find frequent avoidance of downbeats by anticipating the arrival of downbeat notes by as much as an 1/8^th note. This is done by compressing melodies with a looser rubato phrasing that really swings in a Django kind of way. For all such transcriptions, they must be used as a companion to the recording to get the spirit of this phrasing and the music deep in your bones.

Enter Raphael

The legendary Rafael Rabello (1963-95) was likely to have become the undisputed master of chôro guitarists, and Brazilian guitarists, period. From a teenager and until his tragic death at the age of 32, he performed and recorded almost incessantly in the highest circles of Rio’s chôro, samba, MPB (Brazilian pop) and with Hermeto Pascoal. His stunning virtuosity, passion, huge lush sound and dramatic space he commands is extraordinary. He is missed deeply by all he touched.

Raphael (pron. Ha-fa-EH-o) is not only recognized as an essential interpreter of earlier solo guitar repertoire (last issue JJG for interpretations of Dilermando Reis), but also took the sete cordas to the next level of evolution after Dino laid the primordial groundwork. When I was in Rio last summer Dino told me how an 11-year old Raphael came to the clubs absolutely transfixed with the music. om which Segura Ele is transcribed below.

From there, he would go to Dino’s house in Vila Isabel to eventually become the torchbearer of the tradition that totally consumed him. This longterm mentoring culminated in their ’91 studio meeting fr

Fig 3’s transcription of Segura Ele summarizes all of Chôro’s key stylistic elements we have discussed in thes last two articles. Taken at breakneck tempo, the infectious swing and comraderie here is magical. Raphael plays 6-string here. Fingerings are not included here, as both Raphael and Dino play entirely in open position. If you follow left-hand slurring indications and listen to the CD, you’ll be fine.

Fig 2 is a partial transcription of Raphael’s solo six-string guitar accompaniment to clarinetist Paulo Moura on Chorando Baixinho by Abel Ferreira . Tuning the low E to D, he uses textures from basic habanera and chôro comping to blinding flurries of embordão landing onto clever inversions. He executes his embordão basslines using thumbnail downstrokes, left-hand slurring and an adaptation of the flamenco thumb technique al sappur- which is close to a classical rest stroke and the finger equivalent to consecutive (sweep) picking in Jazz.

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Raphael was a big fan of Paco de Lucia and one of the few Brazilian guitarists able to integrate techniques like punteado (rapid i-m alternation for single lines). Moura’s melody is included in the last 4 bars to show the relationship to Raphael’s accompaniment. It is in these two duo CD’s (the ’92 Dois Irmãos and the ’91 project with Dino) where the history and evolution of chôro are contained.

Some may wonder how to play sete cordas basslines which go down to the low C on a six-string guitar:

Tune the low E down to C and A down to G. This equalizes the intervals to perfect 5ths, like a cello's bottom 3 strings. This is also a great tuning for solo Brazilian pieces or Jazz chord melody arranging.

Next Time in Brazilian Connection

Our Feb 2K column will feature solo guitar chôros from Paulinho Nogueira, Paulo Bellinati, and yours truly; the Jazzy chôros of Hermeto Pascoal and cutting edge groups like Agua de Moringa. This in addition to the exclusive interview with Paulo Bellinati.

New! By presstime, past and present JJG articles will be up on my website including sound bites of the musical examples. I know this new feature will really enhance the accessibility and understanding of the music, so pay a visit. Until next time, a very Happy New Year and a great milennium of music.

Jacob do Bandolim vol 1/2
AcousticDisk ACD 3/13

800/221-3472 www.dawgnet.com

Dois Irmãos (with Paulo Moura, duo)Milestone MCD 9203-2

Raphael Rabello & Dino Sete-Cordas
MCD-9221-2

A great sources forChôro recordings:

Comments, ?’s on concerts, workshops, recordings and publications, contact:

PO Box 670126 Kew Gardens Hills NY 11367-0126

boukmusik@earthlink.net http://www.boukas.com

all materials by Richard Boukas
© 1999

For comments, questions, info on concerts, workshops, recordings, publications and other activities, please contact me at:

Richard Boukas
Artist Residency Programs
PO Box 670126
Kew Gardens Hills
NY 11367-0126

(718) 441-4455
(917) 217-3157 cell

boukmusik@earthlink.net

A NOTE ON MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Musical Examples for this issue are available in Adobe Acrobat Reader (pdf) format, version 3.0 or later. To open, just click on the hypertext below or on the hypertext examples within the article itself.

JJG11/99 (Fig 1)

JJG11/99 (Fig 2)

JJG11/99 (Fig 4 concl)

This music was engraved by sinclairmusic

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The Brazilian Connection

exploring Brazilian Fingerstyle Guitar, music and culture
by Richard Boukas

as originally published in
Just Jazz Guitar

all materials ©1999
Richard Boukas
except where indicated

click for info on Richard Boukas' CD Amazôna and other artist recordings.

ENJOY READING THESE OTHER BRAZILIAN CONNECTION ARTICLES

BOSSA NOVA and COMPING in the BRAZILIAN RHYTHM SECTION

MALANDRO: NEW HORIZONS IN
BRAZILIAN JAZZ GUITAR

O CHORO:
A PERENNIAL TRADITION IN BRAZILIAN MUSIC, part one