Festa!

North Carolinian Andrew Finn Magill is an incredibly polished and virtuosic violinist who has turned his bow to many genres (we’ve previously reviewed his Irish music explorations) and this album marks a confident step into Brazilian choro. A genre rooted in

19th-century Rio de Janeiro, choro is often argued to be the first truly ‘Brazilian’ genre, connecting European dances of the time with African and indigenous rhythmic features and including hallmark Brazilian instruments, the pandeiro, cavaquinho and violão sete cordas (seven-string guitar).

Choro remains a very well-respected and popular genre in Brazil and other Lusophone countries, but it seems to fall through the cracks slightly in the way the rest of the world perceives Brazilian music. It is therefore refreshing to be presented with a whole album of new material written in a style that can tend to be quite canonic and self-referential.

On Festa! Andrew Finn Magill plays with an impressive line-up of fine instrumentalists, namely Nando Duarte on production, guitars, cavaquinho, mandolin and bass, as well as Thiago da Serrinha and Carlos Cesar Motta on percussion and drums respectively. I particularly enjoyed the delicate arrangements of ‘Borboleta’ (Butterfly) and ‘Cheio de Mordidas’ (Full of Bites). A great listen for lovers of Brazilian music and also the classically inclined.