Review: Dia do Choro – Choro Day at Kidogo Arthouse

Dia do Choro – Choro Day at Kidogo Arthouse

w/ Perth Choro and special guests

Saturday, April 25, 2026

Choro Day is a special celebration honouring the birthday of legendary Brazilian musician Pixinguinha. One of the founding figures of Brazilian music, Pixinguinha has often been described as a Brazilian jazz cat. Playing flute and sax, choro was the musical style he championed. To mark the occasion, this year the eleven-member ensemble Perth Choro presented a special sunset concert at the Kidogo Arthouse, Bathers Beach, Fremantle.

Brazilian music is increasingly popular in Perth. There are a number of artists and ensembles that now specialise in this kind of music. With a solid Brazilian community here, their shows are always well attended.

Perth Choro is one of a number of Brazilian ensembles led by Danilo da Paz and Emily Gelineau. The pair made waves at Fairbridge Festival this year, performing as a duo (violin/vox with accordion/guitar) and in the various quintet and septet configurations of their lively modern dance band, Jazz Tupi. Perth Choro is a larger ensemble, nine musicians and two singers, that specialises in this more traditional style of Brazilian music. In Saturday’s show, no fewer than eight but no more than nine people performed at any one time.

Although many of their instruments may look familiar on first glance, look again and you notice they are subtly different. At Saturday’s show, Gelineau traded her violin for a bandolim (the Portuguese variation of the mandolin) while da Paz commandeered a pandeiro (a small tambourine-like drum with a special goat skin). Joshua de Silva and Ricardo Steyer played Brazilian seven-string guitars (with the extra string at the bass end), and Thiago Mesquita strummed a caraquinho (which looks like a uke but resonates like a small guitar). The western end of the instrumentation had Mayuka Juber on clarinet and tenor sax, Asha Henfry and Analisa Powell on flutes, and percussionist Pete Evans on snare and high-hat. Rafael Dantas and Maira Trindade sang in Portuguese.

Choro music is lively, bright, joyous and playful. Built on intricate interweaving melodies, at times the ensemble plays in tight unison, the mandolin, guitars, flutes and clarinet tracing the same line. At others, the instruments run against each other in complex counterpoint. With their extra bass string, the guitars provide a deep and full sound that obviates the need for a dedicated bass instrument, while the traditional rhythm guitar part is carried by the strummed caraquinho.

On Saturday, it was magical to watch the fret players’ fingers fly tight and fast up the neck of their instruments, the players themselves not once looking at their hands.

Traditionally, choro music is played without a drummer, just multiple pandeiro players, but the Kidogo’s lively acoustics required fleshing out. Guest percussionist Pete Evans, in a restrained style with brushes and occasional sticks, subtly filled the space.

On some tunes, da Paz used a whistle to direct the band, but more often the musicians took turns to lead. Similarly, they all shared MC duties introducing songs and addressing the audience.

In Brazil, choro music is widely performed in cafes and bars. The band sit around a large table facing each other over their wine glasses and coffees while the audience spreads around them. This enables the musicians to fire off each other while individually engaging a different segment of the room. In keeping with this tradition, for Saturday’s performance, Kidogo Arthouse was set in the round with a large wooden table smack bang in the middle. An engaging configuration, the whole room could feel the music reverberating around them while those sitting in the innermost circle felt as though they’d been drawn into the very heart of the sound.

Although their iPads sat prominently on the table, with all of the music meticulously noted down, these were at most a guide, not a strict script. The musicians would frequently break away and improvise. With the circular setup, as one took off, the others could easily follow, taking the music into new and spontaneous realms.

The show began at 4pm, and the first set was given over to instrumentals. At times various members of the group would sing in unison; on one they all jumped off their seats shouting ‘hey’, but the emphasis was squarely on the tunes. This ninety-minute set finished just in time for the audience to take in the sunset over Bather’s Beach.

For the second act, Henfry, Juba and da Silva stepped back from the circle, and the two singers took their seats. The repertoire then moved to an old style of samba music, similar to choro—a combination of slower ballads and lively dance songs. Dantas sang the upbeat numbers while Trindade took the lead on the ballads. As many of these songs were well-known Brazilian classics, the predominantly Brazilian audience often sang along with them, filling the room with rich choral harmonies—multicultural Australia in joyous, full flight.

The special guests in the ensemble were Sydney-based guitarist Ricardo Steyer, drummer Pete Evans and the two singers. Steyer, a recognised virtuoso, also performed with da Paz and Gelineau in Jazz Tupi at Fairbridge. Evans, like Gelineau, is a regular ‘sideperson’ in the Perth jazz scene. Both added a touch of spice to Saturday’s already virtuoso ensemble.

Technically a sold-out show, there were still a few empty seats. These were probably reserved for the contingent of dancers who congregated around the edges of the room. Although, like the audience in general, it was mainly women who took to the floor, prominent among them were Dancer Dan, in his leather hat and patterned shirt, also fresh from Fairbridge, and the octogenarian Franco, who regularly sashays across the dancefloor at Brazilian gigs. They both had no shortage of dancing partners.

With a vibrancy reminiscent of the Buena Vista Social Club, Choro Day was a wonderful occasion for the Brazilian community and its many outstanding musicians to share their energy and culture with the broader Australian community. Their living traditions form a rich and colourful tapestry and made a great adjunct to ANZAC Day.

IAN LILBURNE

Photos by Alan Holbrook