Raphael Rabello & Dino 7 Cordas

Brazilian jazz is the meeting point of Brazilian popular music and North American jazz, blending samba and bossa nova rhythms with jazz harmony, improvisation, and ensemble interaction. The style typically features syncopated Brazilian grooves (samba, bossa, partido‑alto) under extended jazz chord voicings and lyrical melodies. Acoustic guitar or piano often supplies a gently propulsive, off‑beat rhythmic bed, while bass and drums translate samba’s surdo and pandeiro patterns to the jazz rhythm section. Timbres range from intimate (nylon‑string guitar, brushed drum kit, flute) to expansive (full percussion batteries, horns, and electric keys). The overall feel can be both laid‑back and danceable—romantic yet harmonically sophisticated.

Violão refers to the Brazilian nylon‑string guitar idiom and its solo and accompaniment traditions. It centers on fingerstyle technique, syncopated rhythms, and flowing contrapuntal bass runs (baixarias) drawn from choro, samba, and salon repertoires. Typical performance blends classical right‑hand control with popular Brazilian grooves, producing rich harmonic colors (6/9 chords, altered dominants) and rhythmic elasticity. Both six‑string and seven‑string (violão de sete cordas) variants are used, the latter expanding bass counterpoint in choro and samba contexts. Although often instrumental, the style also functions as a refined accompaniment practice for modinha, seresta, and MPB singers.

Choro is an urban Brazilian instrumental genre that arose in Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century. It blends European dance forms (polka, schottische, waltz, mazurka) with Afro-Brazilian rhythmic sensibilities from styles like lundu and early maxixe, producing a supple, highly syncopated groove. Typical choro ensembles (regionais) feature a lead melodic instrument—often flute, clarinet, or bandolim (mandolin)—supported by cavaquinho and 6-string guitar for harmony, a 7‑string guitar providing counter-melodic bass lines (baixarias), and pandeiro for light percussion. Pieces commonly use multi-strain forms (e.g., AABBACCA), incorporate modulations, and encourage melodic variations and counterpoint rather than long harmonic solos. The result is music that is both virtuosic and lyrical, at once salon-refined and street-savvy.