Choro Frevado

Antônio da Silva Torres (1930-2005), nicknamed Jacaré (meaning 'alligator' in Portuguese), was a gifted, self taught cavaquinho soloist from Recife, Pernambuco. From an early age he was attracted to playing the cavaquinho, his father, an amateur musician, encouraged him to play. When his father died, he soon had to earn his living as a musician and spent most of his lifetime playing bar rooms and local venues in Recife. In 1984-85, however, he was discovered and his music documented in a recording produced by Maricio Carrilho as a part of a musical project devoted to the legacy of the famous Pernambucano composer, Nelson Ferreira. The music was released by the FUNARTE foundation and is still available on a cd, 'Jacaré, Choro Frevado', in the catalogue of Atracão Records. You are able to listen to the cd at CANAL FUNARTE, click here

Discographical details available at Discos do Brasil, click here

As a small follow-up to my contribution last week on string music from Pernambuco related with choro, I highly recommend you to listen to the shown cd, as the music contained is a splendid example of the Pernambucano mixture of different musical traditions. As the title of the cd reads, the music is influenced by both choro and frevo. Like choro, frevo is closely related to the samba, and has grown and adapted into a more modern sound. Musically the frêvo is in the form of a march but is distinguished by its characteristic fast syncopation played in a very fast, binary tempo. Frevo is most popular in Pernambuco state, especially in Recife.

To illustrate frevo I found a couple of performances at YouTube inserted below. The first is a fragment of a live-performance by Armandinho and his trio playing 'Duda no frevo'

The second video features Fred Andrade & Noise Viola performing 'Último Dia'

The last video performance here demonstrates the tight connection between frevo and modern jazz guitar playing. Fred Andrade & Rodolfo Rocha playing 'Lágrima de Folião'

Jo