As the leader of North Americas foremost choro ensemble, are you concerned about authentic performance practice?
While I love the older styles of choro and have chosen to play much of the older repertoire on my CD and with my group, I also realize that I am an American guy approaching this music from a certain distance. After all, I didn’t grow up in Rio or São Paulo going to jam sessions as a kid and learning the music from my family. I will definitely have my own voice in the way that I play these tunes. For me, that is the beauty of it. I think that many musicians today get caught up in the idea of right and wrong with regard to musical styles. While there is definitely a difference between a musician who has done his homework and one who has not, I believe that for choro to survive, it has to be an art form that is alive and in a state of change at all times. It’s really no different than American jazz today. In the U.S. there are purists who have chosen to play in the style of a certain era, in the style of the classic Miles Davis groups of the late sixties for example. Others only play swin
