"Pixinguinha" has been added to your list of bookmarked artists
close
Pixinguinha
Biography
Brazilian Popular Music was individualized around the second half of 19th century, and the end of that century witnessed the presence of the African rhythmic tradition in an urban setting. Humble people from the carioca hills created their own musical instruments, percussion generally, consisting of frying pans, cans filled with sand or stones, cuícas, tamborins, and atabaques, the latter made of cat skins.

The Portuguese colonization brought elements of European culture with it, including musical forms and orchestral instruments. Brazilian musicians who already played the European repertoire on pianos, flutes, violins, and Spanish guitars naturally transposed the rhythms of the percussion to their instruments. Around 1875 the generic title "choro" was already being used to designate any small orchestra with a solo instrument performing popular music, especially in the open.

Alfredo da Rocha Vianna, Jr., nicknamed the "Pixinguinha," had a prominent role in the definition of the so-called regional development of choro, as the typical small groups of this genre are called. A virtuoso flutist at a tender age, he composed his first song at age 13, the choro "Lata de Leite," dedicated to his friends with whom he used to play tricks like stealing milk cans from the front of neighboring houses.
Selected Discography