Los Indios Tabajaras The Very Thought Of You

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Alethia Tiell

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Aug 3, 2024, 6:14:21 PM8/3/24

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A few things I remember is a few years back at Django in June, rhythm guitar player from Tcha's band (Renaud Dardenne) was demonstrating some Choro rhythm guitar patterns. And a lot of people were interested. Then, I don't know how they met but Olli has been recording with Cesar Garabini for a long time now.

When I first encountered choro in a gypsy jazz setting -- on Fapy Lafertin and Tim Kliphuis' "Fleur d'Ennui" CD -- I didn't know what choro was. I, like you, probably first heard the term used with reference to those Villa-Lobos compositions.

The idea behind that workshop last year was to give people an introduction to how the genre can be adapted to the GJ setting...just as has been done with "Gypsy bossa", Gypsy Bolero", etc. Choro is an umbrella term that actually includes many different Brazilian rhythmic styles, so I thought DiJ would be a good place to start exploring both choro repertoire and rhythms, but in a GJ style. The workshop presenters were slated to present a choro, a samba and a maxixe (ma - SHE-she) -- the tune itself and suggestions on accompaniment.

From what I've heard of the workshop, I'm not sure we quite delivered on that promise. But we're (or at least, I'm) learning and I'd like to stay at it. I think our event could contribute a lot to this particular exploration.

Choro is both a specific rhythm and a genre that incorporates many different rhythmic styles: samba, maxixe, choro, baio, valsa, polca, etc. The classic form is rondo, but that has never been strictly fixed, and two part choros have become increasingly common over the years. You can find pretty good, short answers to the question "what is choro" on both ChoroCamp.com and at ChoroMusic.com.

And yes, I'd like to rope somebody into leading a Tuesday workshop on Choro for Gypsy Jazzers again this year, and maybe offer it as a special topic every afternoon. Stay tuned, and watch out for that slippery slope!

I also first heard Choro through Fapy Lafertin's "Fleur d'Ennui" record and in my opinion most if not all Django folks' interest in the genre can be traced directly to him. As far as I know no other artist in the Gypsy Jazz genre explored Choro before that.

One thing I love about Fapy is he explores a lot of different influences. I once recently made the connection that his recording of Maria Elena is clearly influenced by Los Indios Tabajaras =y4dljMqW31g

Funnily, I once played those recordings for some members of a great choro group here, and they made winced faces at it. When you're immersed in the genre, the altered rhythmic feel pops out immediately. I have the same experience when I hear bluegrass musicians dabble in django tunes.

Hmm, I didn't know Fapy was doing some Choro, until some time later. For me the "in" was thru Doug de Vries - he was playing a lot of Django stuff back in the 90's, and then went on to become a world class seven-string player. He doesn't really play GJ much (at all?) any more, although a google search just turned up Doug demoing on an Altamira guitars video recently.