Taruíra - Choro from Rio

'Taruíra' is the local name of a small gecko, common in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. But Taruíra is also the name of a choro ensemble in Rio de Janeiro - a sextet that mixes traditional and modern music and "(...) brings multiple languages together and focuses on the Brazilian and Latin music – always with a little bit of jazz" according to the press info of the group. The group started in 2002 as a trio and is today formed by Breno Morais (soprano saxophone and flute), Carlos Watkins (tenor saxophone), Guto Menezes (cavaquinho and viola), José Roberto Leão (violão 7 cordas), Leandro Mattos (pandeiro) and Yuri Garrido (drums).

Taruíra's first CD was released in 2007 and had 14 tracks of arranged music by composers such as Pixinguinha, Tom Jobim, Hermeto Paschoal and Maurice Ravel, among others. The bandolinist Paulo Sá was responsible for the arrangements of this independent work. The CD is sold out, but you have the opportunity to listen to the recorded tracks at Tauríra's profile on SoundCloud, here

In 2007, the group began its most important project: the rodas de choro that took place on a square in Petrópolis, Taruíra’s hometown, and went on for more than three years. The event started out as a musical gathering outdoors, but it became gradually popular and continued for hundreds of Sundays. The project was eventually subsided by a federal law and became part of the cultural upbringing of the inhabitants of Petrópolis and its surroundings.

In 2011, Taruíra was able to bring to life the desire to record its very own DVD. The DVD was called “Nas nuvens”, in a reference to the scenery in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro, where the group comes from, and proved to be a perfect match for Taruíra’s visual identity. The DVD is uploaded at Taruíra's official website and is available on the group's YouTube channel - Here are a couple of extracts from the DVD inserted below, first the group's version of Jacob do Bandolim's "Assanhado"

Another fragment from the DVD, "A pasta do Carlinhos" (José Roberto Leão) - enjoy!

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The music performed at the DVD has been uploaded at Taruíra's official web and is free accessible on SoundCloud too, here [https://soundcloud.com/taruira/sets/taru-ra] - Currently the group is in the studio recording its second CD according to the press info. - You can follow the group at Facebook, Twitter and Taruíra's official website.

Thanks to Nathália Pandeló for notifying us about Taruíra and forwarding press kit.

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Jo