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Pe de Cana
World/Brazil/Choro/Jazz-Folk
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Vancouver's trio Pe de Cana explores the popular music of Brazil, focusing on the engaging style, rhythm and sweet melodies of Brazilian choro.
Though many traditionalists and musicologists do not accept the term chorinho - meaning "little cry" in the Portuguese language - it is a popular term used by many instead of choro. The term "choro" began to be applied to the performance style of instrumental groups in Rio de Janeiro around 1850 even though the history of "choro" begins in 1808 with the arrival of the Portuguese Royal Family in Brazil.
The words pe-de-cana (foot of sugar cane) have different meanings - from the root that makes the popular Brazilian liquor, cachaca, to the person that likes the drink and uses it - to help with digestion.
The band Pe de Cana plays fine and sweet melodies of choro music with a latin 'Brazilianese' atmosphere faithful to the choro tradition. Choro's full development came with the music of Pixinguinha in the 1920's, before its popularity gave way to the new simpler style of samba. Much of the success of this style of music came from the early days of radio, when bands performed live on air. By the 1960s, it had all but disappeared, being displaced by bossa nova and other styles. However, in the late 1970s there was a successful effort to revitalize the genre through TV-sponsored nation-wide festivals Festival Nacional do Choro that attracted a new, younger generation of musicians. Choro music remains strong in Brazil and in the 21st Century it has attracted many musicians from around the world, including USA's Mike Marshall, that add their own influences of jazz.
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Pe de Cana musicians are percussionist Paul Bray, cavaquinho player Trevor Murray and guitarist Mario Silva. Mario, Paul and Trevor have worked together for over three years in various projects. Pe de Cana surfaced into the Vancouver music scene in 2006, recording the first CD in 2007. The trio spent winter 2007/2008 in Brazil and is now ready to travel to festival, theatres and special events.
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Reviews
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PE DE CANA: Passionate Choro
"Heitor Villa-Lobos once said, "Choro is the essence and soul of Brazilian music”. I confidently add that Pe de Cana is the new reincarnation in choro and will share their music with North Americans like no other group has ever done.
Three talented, attractive, young men dressed in black embraced the stage and their instruments like their lives depended on it – that is the first image I have of Pe de Cana, Vancouver’s own chorinho (literally “little cry”) trio. Blending European melodies, Afro-Brazilian rhythms and the melancholic music of Brazilian Indians, their music is a melting pot very fitting of Canada. Trevor Murray on cavaquinho exudes passion; Mario Silva embraces the guitar as if it were a lover; Paul Bray melds various sounds through succinct percussion. The vitality of choro is in the passion, and this trio definitely has enough of it to share with the world.
Choro music is alive and well in Canada. Pe de Cana transports their audiences with homespun, heart-warming Brazilian folk music with a little jazz --a trio not to be missed!"
"We loved having Pe De Cana perform for our fundraising party, Jazz at the Station on June 16th, 2007. They gave us an exciting and musical set that was perfect for our "Red Hot Jazz" themed evening. Their contribution helped raise well over $80,000 in much needed funds for the Adoptive Families Association of BC vision of finding a family for every waiting child."
Susan Polano, Adoptive Families Association of BC
“The Pe de Cana concert last night in Sooke was my first taste of Brazilian music, and I'm hooked! These personable and skilled musicians treated us to an evening of music filled with sumptuous chords, lyrical melodies and intriguing rhythms. This is joyful, "feel good" music which left me with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart. I look forward to their return to Vancouver Island.”
Lynn Goodacre, Sooke Community
"I would never have listened to this form of music without thinking that it was for my Mother's generation. PE DE CANA wipe that away with one fun stroke of their strings. Fresh and vibrant, young and quite obviously talented, you can hear clearly that they are just plain having a good time making music with each other. I can't wait to see them live again and dance!"
Heather Griffin
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Cavaquinho... "that little guitar"
The cavaquinho is an instrument of Portuguese origin, and is the highest-pitched member of the flat-bodied European guitar family. It came to Brazil as it came to other countries colonized by the Portuguese, and traveled as far as Portugal's commercial trading posts in Hawaii (where it transformed into the ukulele) and Indonesia. In Brazil the cavaquinho played a key part on the birth and development of urban popular music since the middle of the XIX century, both in the instrumental lineage that led to Choro, and in the vocal one that led to samba. It was in Brazil that the instrument reached its highest degree of development thanks to musicians such as Nelson Alves (1895/1960), Canhoto (Waldiro Frederico Tramontano 1908/1987) and Waldir Azevedo (1923/1980), who made the cavaquinho an immensely popular solo instrument.
Source: Choro Music Blogspot
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PÉ DE CANA: Choro Apaixonado
"Heitor Villa-Lobos em certa ocasião afirmou: "O Choro é a verdadeira essência e alma da música Brasileira”. Com toda a certeza acrescento que os Pé de Cana são a nova reencarnação do choro, e irão partilhar a sua música com os Norte-Americanos como nenhum outro grupo de chorinho alguma vez o fez.
Estes três talentosos, novos e atraentes homens vestidos de preto, abraçaram o palco e os seus instrumentos como se as suas vidas dependessem disso – esta é a minha primeira imagem que tenho dos Pé de Cana, o trio de chorinho, natural de Vancouver. Misturando melodias europeias, ritmos Afro-Brasileiros, e a música melancólica dos índios brasileiros, a sua música é uma enorme mistura multicultural, bem à imagem do Canadá. Trevor Murray no cavaquinho exala paixão; Mário Silva abraça a guitarra, como se ela fosse uma amante; Paul Bray funde vários sons através de uma simples percussão. A vitalidade do choro reside na sua paixão, e este trio definitivamente tem-na mais que suficiente para partilhá-la com o mundo.
O Choro está bem vivo no Canadá. Os “Pé de Cana” conduzem o seu público com a sua apaixonante música brasileira temperada com algum jazz – com certeza um trio a não perder!"
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PE DE CANA @ The Cellar Jazz Club with guest Sandra-Mae.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
August 17 - Festival Vancouver
100th Anniversary show of PE DE CANA ... coming soon.
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NOW AVAILABLE
Mirateca Arts Management is currently booking Pe De Cana for venues, festivals and special events; contact us today: info[at]mirateca[dot]com
1 - Pe De Cana (3 musicians)
LISTEN to PE DE CANA music at myspace
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PE DE CANA - CD
 Pe de Cana debut CD NOW AVAILABLE for media review and showcases.
MEDIA: please contact info[at]mirateca[dot]com
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Pe de Cana MUSICIANS
 Paul Bray (percussion) is a dynamic and charismatic multi-talented percussionist working as a musical educator and performer in Vancouver. Paul has devoted his attention to the study of African influenced music, specializing in Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian folkloric musical styles. He has studied extensively in Cuba, and has developed a strong command of Brazilian percussion. In the performing arena Paul is a member of Pe de Cana, La Candela, Banda Brejera and the rockin' children's entertainment trio Sam's Rot'n Pot'n Pan Band.
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 Mario Silva (guitar) played his first chords at the age of 10 when he began studying at the Conservatory of Music in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mario studied with well-known Brazilian musicians including Edimilson Capeluppi, Proveta and Celso Machado. Mario plays with various groups in Vancouver such as Pe de Cana, Brejera, Ache Brasil, Sapeca, as well as solo performances.
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 Trevor Murray (cavaquinho) is a maritime-born guitarist. From the age of ten he acquired an addiction to Brazilian music and shifted focus to the cavaquinho instrument. In recent years, Trevor has become a valuable presence and contributor to the Vancouver music scene through work, collaboration and performance with various groups, such as Brejera, Ache Brasil, Ginga Samba, Sambalada, Trio Branquinho and Pe de Cana.
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SELECTED PAST VENUES
Pe de Cana has performed at various venues including:
Brazil: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro
Canada: British Columbia:
John Braithwaite Centre
Sooke Community Theatre
and at home in Vancouver:
Canvas Lounge, Gastown
Chapel Arts
Festival Vancouver
Heist Lounge, Century House
Lime on The Drive
Rhizome Cafe
Rocky Mountaineer Station
Vancouver International Jazz Festival
Vancouver East Cultural Centre
and artist in residence at The Cellar Jazz Club (October 2007 and June 2008)
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