Alvorada is a London-based band playing Brazilian choro music of all styles – from the earliest classics to modern and contemporary pieces, choros with the irresistible swing of samba from south Brazil, to baião from the northeast. We also play our own original tunes, which display glimpses of our multicultural London influences.
Alvorada have just released their debut album (May 2019). Available here:
https://alvoradamusic.bandcamp.com/album/first-light
“A fresh, innovative album… Inventive harmonies and unpredictable melodic twists”
★★★★★ Songlines Magazine
Choro emerged in Rio in the late 19th century as a mixture of European harmony with African rhythm and improvisation, in a similar way to jazz, ragtime and tango. The word ‘choro’ comes from the Portuguese verb ‘chorar’, which means ‘to cry’. Indeed, choro music certainly has its fair share of tear-inducing laments. But choro is mostly known for its lively, playful and syncopated melodies in the traditional setting of a ‘roda’; that is, with musicians playing informally around the table in a bar, or the kitchen or garden of someone’s home.
Since forming in early 2016, Alvorada has performed regularly across London and beyond, delighting audiences wherever they perform, whether at intimate concerts, lively stage shows, or festival appearances, as well as regularly hosting a ‘roda de choro’. The group was shortlisted for the 2017 Brazilian International Press Awards.
Andrew Woolf clarinet
Rachel Hayter flute
Luiz Morais seven-string guitar
Jeremy Shaverin cavaquinho
Alua Nascimento pandeiro
www.alvoradamusic.com
www.facebook.com/alvoradamusic
“They breathe a new life into Brazil’s popular, lilting choro style… adding a distinctive, contempoary edge” Sarah Ward, Jazz FM
“A tight-knit family of virtuosos… One of the most exciting new bands in London” DJ Ritu, Resonance FM
“Undoubtedly the freshest and most original voice of UK choro” Sounds & Colours
ANDREW WOOLF 